Boland chooses to bat first

Goldrush Boland won the toss and elected to bat first in their CSA 4-Day Series match against the Dafabet Warriors at Boland Park, Paarl, on Thursday.

Boland started their four-day campaign on the wrong foot. They lost their opening fixture, which was at home, to the Knights. Justin Ontong's outfit did not do well with the bat, excluding Gavin Kaplan and Clyde Fortuin. The duo mustered half-centuries in the first innings, while the rest of Boland's top six had starts they failed to convert.

The Paarl side was kept in the contest by their bowlers who kept the Knights batters honest for long periods. Fortuin, the Boland captain, will hope that his bowling attack can replicate, or improve on their effort against the Knights.

Boland will need to be on their A-game against the Warriors, who played out a thrilling draw against the Renault Potchefstroom North West Dragons last week. Five batters from Robbie Petersen's side registered half-tons. Jordan Hermann, Sinethemba Qeshile, Patrick Kruger and Duanne Olivier all scored 50s. However, their best batter in the tie was Matthew de Villiers, who chalked back-to-back half-centuries in his debut first-class match.

The Warriors' batting department was strengthened by the return of their captain, Matthew Breetzke, who was away with the Proteas in Bangladesh. He is also joined in the side by Suneran Muthusamy. The allrounder had a wonderful outing in the subcintinent with bat and ball for the Proteas and will add a lot of value.

Their bowling attack, led by Duanne Olivier, who was on the mark through the match. Beyers Swanepoel was also at his best, taking wickets and keeping batters quiet. The Warriors stand-in captain in last week's game, Jordan Hermann, couldn't have had a better stert to the season beyond scoring a half-century and recording his best bowling figures. The part-timer bagged three wickets as he strived to secure victory for his side.

Teams:

Grant Roelofsen, Pieter Malan, Gavin Kaplan, Aviwe Mgijima, Clyde Fortuin (capt)(wk), Michael Copeland, Shaun von Berg, Keith Dudgeon, Jevano Baron, Ayabulela Gqamane, Glenton Stuurman

WARRIORS: Jordan Hermann, Jean du Plessis, Matthew Breetzke (capt), Matthew de Villiers, Sinethemba Qeshile (wk), Senuran Muthusamy, Andile Mogakane, Ethan Frosler, Duanne Olivier, Jason Raubenheimer, Siyabulela Plaatjie.