An undefeated partnership of 136 between Matthew Harris and Eugene Moleon enabled the Lions to reach 262 at stumps and a lead of 236 on the third day of their Supersport Series match against the Cape Cobras at the Wanderers on Saturday.
The pair came together when the home side were struggling on 126 for six and looking at the possibility of the game not going into the fourth day.
With the shadows lengthening across the square, the umpires decided enough was enough, with Harris on 83 off 149 balls with 13 fours and Moleon having struck nine fours and a six off 127 deliveries for 51, his second first-class half-century.
The hosts’ second spell at the crease went pear-shaped as early as the fifth over of the innings, as Alan Dawson — who took 4/60 in the Lions’ first innings — induced Blake Snijman to offer a regulation slip catch to Herschelle Gibbs, and Mpho Sekhoto edged the next delivery to wicketkeeper Thami Tsolekile.
That man Dawson was at it again with his third over after the luncheon interval when Cook gave what was no more than slip-catching practice to Andrew Puttick. At that stage, the seamer was on 3/17 off 10 overs.
There was a ray of sunshine as the clouds cleared, with Neil Mckenzie adding 35 and Vaughn van Jaarsveld 40 off 42 balls (8×4), before the latter was brilliantly caught at mid-wicket by Derrin Bassage.
Ten minutes prior to the tea break, Werner Coetsee played all over a Vernon Philander delivery, only to find his furniture totally rearranged. Enter Harris and Moleon to save the day.
Earlier, the Cape side had resumed in the morning on 231 for five, still 68 runs behind the Lions’ first-innings score of 299.
And for the third successive day, the players took to the field under grey and leaden skies, with Philander adding just 10 runs to his overnight 18 before offering an easy caught-and-bowled chance to Coetsee, the bowler’s second such dismissal.
However, he and Gibbs had contributed a useful 72 for the sixth wicket. Gibbs struck a boundary through the covers off Garnett Kruger to take the Cobras past the Lions’ score and take the lead in the race for bonus points.
The fast-bowler was to exact his revenge, though, bowling the batsman neck-and-crop. Up to that point, it had been a master-class performance from Gibbs, who had struck 23 boundaries in a 221-ball 149 in what was his 31st first-class century.
Gerhard de Bruin mopped up the tail by having Monde Zondeki caught by Coetsee at gully and Dawson caught at first slip by McKenzie to finish with figures of four for 64.
Eagles take lead
The Free State Eagles overcame some early second-innings shocks to take an overall lead of 106 at the close of the third day in their Supersport Series cricket match against the Warriors at Sahara Oval St George’s on Saturday.
After dismissing the Warriors for 350 in their first innings, the Eagles enjoyed a lead of 41 to which they added 65 for the loss of three wickets when bad light ended play with 10 overs remaining.
There were some anxious moments for the visitors, however, as Warriors opening bowler Tyron Henderson struck twice in his first over, removing Ryan Baily with his second delivery and first-innings centurion Jacques Rudolph with his fifth. Bailey was caught by wicketkeeper Abongile Sodumo and Rudolph was bowled off the inside edge for four.
There was further joy for the Warriors when Lyall Meyer crashed through Davy Jacobs’s defence to send his off-stump cartwheeling with the Free Stater on 11. That made it 29 for three, but Benjy Hector and Morne van Wyk, who survived a confident lbw appeal off the first delivery he faced, stood firm to take it to 65 for three at the close.
Earlier, the Warriors had continued their cautious but steady reply to the Free Staters’ first innings of 391, despite missing three middle-order batsmen in Burton de Wett, Michael Smith and Justin Kreusch. They all fell ill overnight and were unable to bat in their normal positions.
Carl Bradfield top-scored with 86 after a marathon six-hour stay, and there were gutsy contributions from Abongile Sodumo (29), Daryll Willemse (34) and Tyron Henderson, who bludgeoned 44 not out.
Eagles seamer Roger Telemachus was rewarded for his great persistency, picking up six for 85. But the Free Staters will be unhappy at conceding 50 extras, which included 27 no-balls.
Titans build big lead
With a first-innings lead of 75 — thanks to the five-wicket haul of leg-spinner Paul Harris on Friday — the Titans set about building a huge second-innings score against the KwaZulu-Natal Dolphins on the third day of their Supersport Series cricket match at Kingsmead on Saturday.
At the end of the day, the Titans were handily placed on 246 for five against the 199 by the Dolphins. Added to their first innings of 274, the visitors were in a strong position to push for an outright victory on Sunday.
Once again, bad light lopped off 11 overs on day three as the Titans went into the dressing room 321 runs to the good and five wickets in hand.
The Titans were in no hurry in the first two sessions of the third day on Saturday and openers Andre Seymore (91) and Gulam Bodi (47) ground out a painstaking 124-run opening partnership in three hours of defiance.
Then Seymore and skipper Martin van Jaarsveld occupied the crease for a further 83 minutes before they were separated as they added another 56 runs together.
But both departed within five overs as the Dolphins bowlers achieved a mini breakthrough with three wickets for eight runs before tea, which was taken at 192 for four.
It brought the Dolphins back into the game at that stage — but only just.
Seymore was probably unlucky not to have got to three figures, but paid the price for extreme caution. His 91 (the second wicket to fall) came in 217 minutes and even though it contained 16 boundaries, it took him more than four hours to compile.
Bodi’s 47 was nearly as slow — in 180 minutes — and included seven fours. Van Jaarsveld showed he intended upping the pace as he struck 32 in 84 minutes before falling to a catch to Andrew Tweedie, off Klusener, to compound the mini collapse.
Tweedie, a man who often battles to secure a spot in this Dolphins side, was the pick of the early bowlers and at tea had just 19 runs taken off 14 overs.
But between tea and the close, the defensive mode of the Titans continued between the two De Bruyns — Zander and Pierre — as they added 57 for the fifth wicket. And that probably was that, as far as the Dolphins’ hopes were concerned.
It was broken when Hashim Amla ran out Zander (39) with a direct hit from point. — Sapa