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WRAP: Batsmen make hay on Day 3, WP claim easy win

cricket16 February 2024 16:32| © MWP
By:CS Chiwanza
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Pieter Malan and Jean du Plessis © Gallo Images

Joshua van Heerden scored a brilliant century to steer the Multiply Titans into a strong position on the third day of their CSA 4-Day Challenge match against the AET Tuskers at Pietermaritzburg Oval, Pietermaritzburg, on Friday. 

His 252-run opening partnership with Matthew Kleinveldt buoyed the Titans to 252 for one as they replied to their hosts' first-innings score of 426.

The visitors trail the Tuskers by 174 runs with nine wickets in hand.

At stumps, the Titans had van Heerden (109 from 209) and Musa Twala (0 from 1) at the crease.

The umpires were forced to stop the game due to bad light shortly before tea. With no prospect of the conditions improving as the day wore on, they called it a day.

Van Heerden’s unbeaten century featured 13 fours and it is his second first-class ton.

The 25-year-old opener had no trouble picking up from where he had left off at stumps on day two.

His 147-run first-wicket stand with day two centurion Kleinveldt kept the Titans in the contest.

In their partnership, Kleinveldt had been the aggressor as he raced to his 35th ton, while Van Heerden was the foil.

Van Heerden’s strike rate hovered in the late 40s to early 50s region, while Kleinveldt was going at a rate above the 60 per cent mark.

The duo added 105 more runs to their overnight night tally, as they sent fielders scurrying left, right and centre.

Kleinveldt crunched 21 fours on his way to 132 off 210 deliveries. His outstanding innings ended when he mistimed a Malcolm Nofal delivery, sending it to the fielder in the mid-wicket region.

The duo's industrious partnership swung the pendulum in the Titans' favour, putting them in a good position to erase the deficit.

The new batter in, Musa Twala, faced a single delivery before the umpires called time on the game for the day.

Malcolm Nofal was the only bowler rewarded for his toil on the third morning. The spinner took one wicket for 49 runs in 13 overs.

Michael Erlank, who sent down 11 overs, four of them maidens, was the most economical.

The Tuskers captain conceded runs at a rate of 2.91 runs an over.

TUSKERS: Ben Compton, Yaseen Valli, Michael Erlank, Kagiso Rapulana, Malcolm Nofal, Alindile Mhletywa, Keith Dudgeon, Cameron Shekleton, Smangaliso Nhlebela, Ntando Zuma, Jared Meiring

TITANS: Joshua van Heerden, Matthew Kleinveldt, Musa Twala, Dewald Brevis, Sibonelo Makhanya (c), Donovan Ferreira, Rivaldo Moonsamy (wk), Corbin Bosch, Dayyaan Galiem, Aya Gqamane, Schalk Engelbrecht

MALAN AND DU PLESSIS PULL THINGS BACK FOR THE ROCKS 

Pieter Malan and Jean du Plessis were in brilliant form as they led the Gbets Rocks to 243 for three at stumps on the third day of their CSA 4-day Challenge match against the DP World Lions at the Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg.

The Rocks won the toss and chose to bat first on day one, but failed to make use of conditions and were bundled out for 226.

In reply, the Lions racked up 478 in an innings that started well and disappointingly petered out at the end.

The visitors go into day four trailing by 18 runs with seven wickets in hand. At stumps, the Rocks had Malan (101 off 228) and Du Plessis (100 from 158) at the crease. Malan kept his composure as he dug the Rocks out of the hole they found themselves in.

Unlike the first innings where he failed to convert his half-century to three figures, the 34-year-old struck 12 fours on his way to an unbeaten 101 off 228, his 39th first-class ton. His partner, Jean du Plessis, showed his array of shots as he registered his first century for the Rocks.

Up until the December break, Du Plessis played for South Western Districts and he starred with the bat for them.

His exploits caught the eye of Proteas coach Shukri Conrad, who selected him for the South Africa A vs India A series in December.

Du Plessis rewarded Conrad with a century and an unbeaten 50.The 25-year-old took to Division 1 cricket like a duck to water and registered his ninth first-class century during his unbeaten 198-run fourth-wicket partnership with Malan.

Du Plessis struck nine fours and two sixes for his unbeaten 100.When Malan and Du Plessis came together, the Rocks were in a world of trouble, they had collapsed to 36 for three in 12.2 overs.

The duo will look to build on their potentially match-saving partnership on day four.Bjorn Fortuin was the standout bowler for the Lions on day three. The spinner took two wickets for 78 runs in 26 overs. Fortuin also had the best economy, after conceding runs at three an over.

MOKOENA FIGHTS LONE BATTLE TO SAVE DRAGONS

Grant Mokoena resolutely held on as he fought to save the game for the North West Dragons in their CSA 4-day Challenge match against the Hollywoodbets Dolphins at the JB Marks Oval, Potchefstroom. 

The Dolphins, who won the toss on day one and chose to bat first, made good use of the conditions, batting their way to an imposing first-innings total of 643/8d.

In reply, the Dragons stumbled their way to 282 and were asked to follow-on. The home team trails the visitors by 147 runs with five wickets in hand.At stumps, the Dragons had Mokoena (98) and Tahir Isaacs (0) at the crease.Mokoena scored an evenly-paced 98 that featured 10 fours and two sixes off 173 balls.

The opener set the Dragons on the right path with a 70-run opening stand with Lesego Senokwane (39).

The partnership could have accrued more runs had Senokwane not mistimed the pull shot on an Andile Phehlukwayo delivery for him to be caught at mid-wicket.With the number three batter back in the hutch, Mokoena gave new life to the Dragons' cause with a 90-run second-wicket stand with Lesiba Ngoepe.

First-innings hero Ngoepe was unable to replicate his fine form in back-to-back innings.

The 30-year-old, who registered his 29th first-class half-century, fell 10 runs short of his 30th 50.Mokoena's third partner of the afternoon was Rubin Hermann. The duo constructed a 46-run partnership that almost saw the Dragons to the close of play.

Unfortunately for the hosts, Prenelan Subrayen struck a few minutes before 6pm to claim his third wicket of the match.

Hermann's dismissal triggered a collapse that saw the Dragons lose three wickets in 2.2 overs for four runs.Bryce Parsons was the Dolphins' most successful bowler in the Dragons' second innings.

The 23-year-old took one wicket for 12 runs in six overs. He also executed a run out off his own bowling to dismiss Wihan Lubbe.

Daryn Dupavillon continued in his miserly ways, conceding three runs in eight overs, six of them maidens, for an economy of 0.38 runs an over.

WP CLAIM COMFORTABLE WIN OVER WARRIORS

A brave century by Dafabet Warriors opener Jiveshan Pillay was not enough to see his side over the line as Western Province claimed a comfortable 64 run win in their CSA 4-Day Series clash in Gqeberha on Friday.

Pillay showed incredible resilience and mental fortitude, carrying his bat as he faced 191 deliveries, striking 15 boundaries and a six over square leg to record only his third First Class century and his second in Warriors colours.

Resuming the day on 119/9, needing 115 runs for victory, Pillay and tail ender Alfred Mothoa made the visitors' bowling attack work hard in the first hour, striking up a 54 run partnership for the final wicket.

Pillay would take much of the strike,protecting his partner, who managed to hit three boundaries off the 38 balls he faced, and in doing so, frustrate the visiting side as the hosts breached 150.

Pillay brought up a well deserved century with a six over the square leg boundary, as the duo batted with discipline to hang in for as long as they could.

Mothoa would eventually perish having scored 12, with Wesley Bedja claiming his third wicket of the match as the Warriors’ second innings came to a close on 169 all out.

Bedja claimed career best figures of 8/64 after his second innings haul of 3/45, as Beuran Hendricks, who was removed from the attack after running on the pitch in his follow through, claimed 3/40, while Onke Nyaku, who replaced his fellow seamer, finished with 3/27.

The defeat can be seen as a missed opportunity for the home side, who sat just 11.34 points behind the table topping Momentum Multiply Titans and with a real possibility of qualifying for the 4-Day final at the end of February, However, that now looks in serious doubt with just one round left to play.

With three other matches still in play in Division 1, the Gqeberha based side will certainly drop out of the top two having taken just four bowling points from this encounter with a clash against the Tuskers Pietermaritzburg to come in the final round of matches starting on February 21.

Meanwhile, WP, who sat in fifth place before the start of this encounter, will have renewed hope of finals qualification after claiming 20 points from this victory as they look ahead to a meeting with the Dolphins in Cape Town next week.


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