Johan van Dyk registered his eighth five-wicket haul as the Knights romped to a 169-run victory over Goldrush Boland in their CSA 4-Day Series match at Boland Park on Sunday.
The visitors won the toss, elected to bat first, and scored 266 runs in their first innings. Boland replied by posting an identical first-innings total, 266 runs. The Knights then chalked a 291-run total on day three, which they defended, bowling Boland out for 122 on the final day.
Van Dyk came into this encounter with seven five-wicket hauls to his name. The medium pacer provided Aaron Phangiso with a great partner in the morning session, as the visitors toppled Boland's batting line-up. He took five wickets for 28 runs in 12 overs. He ended the match with match figures of nine wickets for 74 runs in 29 overs.
Phangiso led the destruction with three early wickets in his 10-over spell. The left-arm spinner struck in the first 30 minutes of play to put the visitors in control. At lunch, he had taken three wickets for 15 runs in 10 overs. His hunting partner, Van Dyk, bagged three wickets to send the home side reeling and staring at the barrel of defeat.
After lunch, the seamer picked up from where he had left off before the interval. Van Dyk dismissed Boland's captain, Clyde Fortuin, and Glenton Stuurman in three overs to claim his eighth five-wicket haul.
The Knights put themselves in a position to win the match thanks to an inspired knock from Aaron Phangiso on day one. The left-armer is known for his bowling, however, on the first day, he showed his abilities with the bat. He scored an outstanding 73 from 98 balls to lead the Knights to a decent first-innings total. Three of the Knights' top-six batters, Isaac Dikgale (40), Dian Forrester (30), and Gihahn Cloete (30), got starts but failed to convert them into meaningful scores.
A big part of the reason why they failed to kick on was Shaun von Berg. The 38-year-old spinner registered his 22nd first-class four-wicket haul to finish with four wickets for 61 runs in 20.4 overs. Siya Mahima and Glenton Stuurman bagged a brace of wickets each.
Gavin Kaplan (51) and Clyde Fortuin (54) scored outstanding half-centuries in a Boland innings where several batters had starts but failed to kick on. Their failure to kick on meant that despite having two batters who reached the 50-run mark, compared to the Knights who had one, the home side was unable to pass the score set by the visitors.
Aaron Phangiso and Johan van Dyk led the Knights' bowling attack. They shared seven wickets between them. Van Dyk finished with his fifth first-class four-wicket haul. He took four wickets for 46 runs in 17 overs, while Phangiso finished with three wickets for 54 runs in 27 overs.
Dian Forrester then scored 71 off 99 balls in the Knights' second innings to set the visitors on course for victory. This is the fourth first-class half-century for the Limpopo-born batter. He faced 66 deliveries to chalk the milestone. Forrester, who has a single first-class ton, has to wait a little longer for a century in Division One. Despite not kicking on to big scores, Isaac Dikgale (37), Lesego Senokwane (25), Garnett Tarr (39), and Gihahn Cloete (38), did just enough to help the Knights register a score Boland couldn't chase down.
The Knights will face Renault Potchefstroom North West Dragons in their next 4-Day Series match, which starts on Thursday, 7 November.