In a nail-biting finish that had the spectators at the Wanderers on the edge of their seats, the Highveld Lions prevailed by five runs to beat the Warriors in their Supersport Series match.
The men from the Eastern Cape requiring 265 runs at the start of the day to bring off victory and were eventually bowled out for 259.
Robin Peterson, the all-rounder not considered good enough to pull on the Protea shirt, came to the party in the Warriors’ first innings with a half-century and four wickets. He also featured in their second spell at the crease.
Arriving at the wicket at the fall of the fifth wicket with the score on 118, he painstakingly put together a 117-ball 73 — his ninth first-class 50 — that included 11 fours and one huge six launched over cow corner. His total contribution to the match was 127 runs and eight for 129.
Man-of-the-match Friedel de Wet put the nail in the proverbial coffin when he took the final wicket, that of Brent Kops.
The wicket fell just as Kops and Lonwabo Tsotsobe looked to take the game away from the home side with a last-wicket partnership of 17 — it may not have seemed much, but in the context of the game it was all important.
De Wet finished with three for 76 and a match analysis of 44-12-129-8, exactly the same figures as Peterson. — Sapa