In what turned out to be a nail-biting finish that kept the spectators on the edge of their seats, the Lions persevered on Friday to win their Standard Bank Cup match against the Warriors, which was played at the Wanderers, by two wickets.
The Warriors, invited to take first strike after the Lions had won the toss, stuttered to 210 for nine.
The Lions, with their eye on the weather, were probably mindful of keeping wickets in hand if it came down to the Duckworth-Lewis system, but there was only a brief rain interruption.
However, they were nearly made to pay for their conservatism as, going into the final over, they required seven runs to snatch victory.
Three balls into the over, the score was tied with Tyron Henderson sending Brendon Adams’s stumps cartwheeling.
Enter Friedel de Wet, who struck the winning run of Henderson to tumultuous applause from the crowd that had braved the biting cold wind.
But Neil McKenzie, with a 71-ball 42, and Matthew Harris, with 36 struck off 27 deliveries, probably set up the victory.
Adam Bacher and Stephen Cook got the innings off to a steady, if unspectacular, start; however, upon reaching the 50 partnership, there followed a farcical train of events. Within three deliveries it was the partnership; next, Cook was dropped by wicketkeeper Athenkosi Dyili; and then Bacher offered what was no more than regulation slip catching practice to Burton de Wett.
Cook was guilty — not for the first time — of failing to convert a 50 into a century or more, as he was trapped in front by Robin Peterson two balls after attaining what was his 13th half-century.
Earlier, thanks to a 62-ball unbeaten 51 from Laden Gamiet (6×4) — his fifth limited-overs 50 — the Warriors managed to scramble pass the 200 mark, but they were aided and abetted by some slip-shod fielding.
The rest of the batting line-up was guilty of not pressing on after getting starts, with Peterson, Dyili, De Wett and Henderson all going out in the mid-20s.
Eagles win at the death
With 22 runs required off the last two overs with one wicket in hand, the Eagles managed a win at the death against the Cobras at Goodyear Park in Bloemfontein on Friday. After a career-best bowling performance by Rory Kleinveldt (4/29), the Cobras looked set to win their first match of the series, but the home team had other plans.
The Eagles’ extraordinary long batting line-up came to their rescue. Ryan McLaren (37*) and master blaster Dillon du Preez (12*), who came in at number 11, shared a 24-run partnership off just 13 balls for the last wicket.
The Eagles needed one run off the last ball, which Du Preez hit for a four. Jonathan Beukes scored 55 runs at the start of the Eagles’ innings, with Loots Bosman (24) and Pieter Koortzen (34) the only other batsmen with scores worth mentioning.
Kleinveldt almost won the game for the Cobras with some excellent bowling before man of the match McLaren held the game on the line until the big-hitting Du Preez came in to hit the fatal blow.
A 132-run partnership between Henry Davids (71) and Con de Lange (64) saved the Cobras from a second batting humiliation, after the Warriors also dismissed the team from the Cape cheaply a few days earlier.
When Davids came to the crease, the Cobras were in all sorts of trouble at 66 for five. The Cobras could only manage 135 runs in their previous game against the Warriors in Port Elizabeth and until Davids and De Lange stood firm for them, things did not look well.
Openers Andrew Puttick (2) and captain Thami Tsolekile (9) could only manage a mere five runs for the first wicket. After looking promising, JP Duminy (13) also couldn’t contribute much with the bat.
Teenager Richard Levi (12) tried to show some initiative by hitting the first six of his professional career, but that too was not enough.
Johan van der Wath, the Eagles’ top wicket-taker in last season’s series with 20 scalps, took another four wickets, ending with figures of 4/41. Van der Wath has already taken 14 wickets in this year’s competition, with five games still to be played excluding the semifinal and final.
Fellow opening bowler Cliffe Deacon assisted Van der Wath very well with 2/38. The Eagles somehow lost their grip that they had on the Cobras, who eventually managed 223 runs in their 45 overs. — Sapa