Knights and Lions draw
by Bruno Dunn 03 February 2013, 14:06
The bizhub Highveld Lions and the Chevrolet Knights drew their Sunfoil Series match at the Diamond Oval in Kimberley on Sunday when rain started to fall just before lunch and the players could not come back on to the field.
Full Scorecard – Knights v Lions
The Lions were 108 for two before the rain delayed the match. The home side needed a further eight wickets to claim victory, while the Lions needed 279 runs for an unlikely win.
The Lions opening pair of Stephen Cook and Dominic Hendricks did well to see the visitors to stumps on day three by facing 19 overs in the final session and reaching 53 for no loss, leaving themselves a massive 334 runs to achieve victory on the final day.
The first 10 overs of the day went by quietly as the pair only scored 11 runs as they looked to set themselves up for a big score. That was not to be though as Hendricks struck a Shadley van Schalkwyk delivery to Patrick Botha and was out for 30 in the 12th over of the day.
Four overs later, his opening partner was walking back to the pavilion too, when Van Schalkwyk found Cook’s outside edge and Rudi Second took the catch. The Lions captain was out for 43 as they found themselves 84 for two.
Temba Bavuma (18) and Neil McKenzie (10) saw the Lions past the 100 mark before the sides were taken off the field due to the weather. Van Schalkwyk was the stand-out bowler with figures of 2-30 in 10 overs.
The Knights won the toss and batted first, scoring 348, thanks to a fantastic 80 from Rilee Rossouw and a superb 78 from Werner Coetsee with the lower order. Gihahn Cloete (54) and Obus Pienaar (42) also contributed to the great total.
Cliffe Deacon 3-56) and Hardus Viljoen (3-101) were the pick of the Lions attack.
Johan van der Wath (3-55) and Malusi Siboto (3-54) then helped the Knights bowl the Lions out for 219, with Neil McKenzie’s 40 being the highest contribution of the innings. Imran Tahir hit 36 from 26 deliveries batting at number 11 to reduce the deficit to 129 before being bowled out.
Many batsmen made a contribution in the Knights' second innings. Pienaar (58), Van der Wath (55), Ryan Bailey (45) and Cloete (33) all scored runs to help them post 257 and set the Lions a massive 386 for victory.
Report Day 1
Report Day 2
Report Day 3
CHEVROLET KNIGHTS: RS Second (wk), GL Cloete, JJ van der Wath (capt), RR Rossouw, RT Bailey, AJ Pienaar, P Botha, WL Coetsee, D du Preez, MP Siboto, SC van Schalkwyk
BIZHUB HIGHVELD LIONS: SC Cook (capt), DA Hendricks, T Bavuma, ND McKenzie, Z de Bruyn, TL Tsolekile (wk), WA Deacon, BJ Pelser, CH Morris, GC Viljoen, Imran Tahir
