Malcolm Nofal struck his third first-class century as the CSA 4-Day Series match between the AET Tuskers and the Dafabet Warriors fizzled out into the tamest of draws on the final afternoon at the City Oval in Pietermaritzburg on Saturday.
With heat of about 38degC radiating around the ground, the players of both teams were no doubt grateful to call off the contest about 85 minutes into the afternoon session with no possibility of a positive result.
At that stage, the Tuskers were 382 for five in 112 overs in their first innings, replying to the Warriors’ huge first-innings total of 513 for three.
The match will be remembered primarily for Tristan Stubbs’s first triple-century and his franchise record-breaking partnership of 473 for the third wicket with Matthew Breetzke (188). Stubbs's unbeaten 302 took him eight hours and 19 minutes and ate up 372 balls. He is the 11th South African to score a first-class triple-century.
It was also a memorable outing for Tuskers’ skipper Michael Erlank who hit his 12th first-class hundred as well as for Nofal.
The pair came together on Friday when the score was 146 for four with the visitors still having a sniff of possible victory. The pair snuffed that out with a fifth-wicket partnership of 151 that was only ended on Saturday afternoon when Erlank was caught and bowled by spinner Siya Simetu for 127 (229 balls, 21x4s).
Erlank’s was the only wicket to fall in the day with Nofal remaining unbeaten on 105 (188 balls, 17x4s, 1x6) along with Keith Dudgeon (33*) with the pair adding an unbroken 85 for the sixth wicket.
Warriors’ skipper Breetzke used nine bowlers in a bid to unsettle the batters, but on a slow, flat Oval pitch, their efforts were always likely to be unavailing. Simety was the most successful of the bowlers, claiming 2/89 in 27 overs, but the balance in favour of the batters was shown by the stat of 899 runs scored for the loss of only eight wickets over the four days.
A result was made even less likely because of the weather, with rain and bad light taking big chunks of time out of the match.
The draw made no difference to the Tuskers' bottom position on the Division One log with the Warriors remaining in mid-table.
TUSKERS: Cameron Shekleton; Daelen Fynn; Jared Meiring; Kagiso Rapulana; Keith Dudgeon; Malcolm Nofal; Michael Erlank (c); Mondli Khumalo; Ntando Zuma (wk); Smangaliso Nhlebela; Yaseen Valli
WARRIORS: Beyers Swanepoel; Jiveshan Pillay; Jordan Hermann; Matthew Breetzke (c); Patrick Kruger; Renaldo Meyer; Rudi Second; Sinethemba Qeshile; Siya Plaatjie; Siya Simetu; Tristan Stubbs
LIONS MAUL TITANS AT SUPERSPORT PARK
Ryan Rickelton scored an unbeaten half-century to steer the DP World Lions to a comfortable six-wicket win over the Multiply Titans in their CSA 4-day Challenge match played at Supersport Park, Centurion, on Saturday morning. The visitors were chasing a 161-run target in the fourth innings and accomplished it in two sessions of play.
The Proteas star struck the winning runs, a boundary, to help the Lions reach 164 for five. His unbeaten innings of 64 runs off 126 balls featured seven fours and a single six. This is his 50th first-class half-century. The 27-year-old was in the company of Delano Potgieter (12 off 31) when the Lions cantered home.
The Lions took control of the match early in day one with two early wickets courtesy of Potgieter, who struck early to dismiss Joshua van Heerden and Musa Twala for only three runs between them. Titans captain Sibonelo Makhanya walked in and set up a stall on one end while wickets tumbled at the other. The 27-year-old lost five partners in 24.3 overs for 99 runs while he worked his way to a 19th first-class half-century that featured 10 fours. He scored 66 off 106 balls as the Titans crumbled to 227 in their first innings.
In reply, Joshua Richards stepped up and took charge of the Lions' first innings. The opener accumulated 107 runs from 201 deliveries, his ninth first-class ton, in a knock that featured 15 fours and two sixes. The 25-year-old formed valuable partnerships with Wiaan Mulder (55) and Mitchell van Buuren (58) as the Lions put up a first-innings total of 293.
Much like their first innings, the Titans struggled to get going and their top-order batters did not get starts, save for Matthew Kleinveldt, who scored 45 in the first innings, and Joshua van Heerden, who put 47 runs on the board. True to their consistency, it was also only Sibonelo Makhanya who played an innings of substance. As he did in the first innings, the Titans captain played a captain's knock and scored his second century of the match, his 20th half-ton. Makhanya scored 69 off 102 deliveries as the Titans were bowled out for 226, just one run short of their first innings score.
161 runs was not a tall order for the visitors who had a session and a day to reach it. The false start by their top three batters, who were dismissed for a combined 24 runs, might have let a bit of apprehension creep in. But those feelings were quickly dispelled by the 85-run fourth-wicket partnership between Ryan Rickelton and Wiaan Mulder (40). The pair stabilized the visitors' innings and set them on course for victory. When they walked out to bat on Saturday morning, the Lions needed less than 50 runs to win.
Titans pacer Junior Dala was the standout bowler in the match. The 34-year-old pacer chalked his seventh first-class five-wicket haul with six wickets for 58 runs in 17.3 overs in the Lions' first innings. He bagged three more wickets in the second innings to finish the match with nine wickets for 122 runs in 31 overs.
Lutho Sipamla and Codi Yusuf were brilliant for the Lions. The pacers grabbed a four-wicket haul each, Sipamla in the Titans' first innings and Yusuf in the second.
MULTIPLY TITANS: Sibonelo Makhanya (c), Matthew Kleinveldt, Joshua van Heerden, Musa Twala, Dewald Brevis, Donovan Ferreira, Rivaldo Moonsamy (wk), Corbin Bosch, Dayyaan Galiem, Junior Dala, Jack Lees.
DP WORLD LIONS: Joshua Richards, Dominic Hendricks (c), Ryan Rickelton (wk), Wandile Makwetu, Marco van Biljon, Mitchell van Buuren, Wiaan Mulder, Delano Potgieter, Malusi Siboto, Lutho Sipamla, Codi Yusuf.
DRAGONS SCORCH ROCKS AT BOLAND PARK
Gideon Peters chalked career-best first-class bowling figures as he bowled the North West Dragons to a win of an innings and 48 runs over the Gbets Rocks in their CSA 4-day Challenge at Eurolux Boland Park, Paarl, on Saturday morning. Peters led the Dragons' bowling attack as they bowled out the home side for 183 runs in their second innings.
Coming into the match, Peters had career-best bowling figures of four wickets for 37 runs in an innings in first-class cricket. Against the Rocks, he went one better and registered a maiden first-class five-wicket haul of five wickets for 48 runs in 18.6 overs, six of which were maidens. The 24-year-old pacer's performance capped off a dominant exhibition of cricket from the Dragons, who have not been fortunate this season. This is the North West side's second win in red-ball cricket in the 2023-24 season.
On day one, the Dragons won the toss and elected to bowl first. Wihan Lubbe's side made the best use of conditions thanks to a sensational knock by Lesego Senokwane. The 30-year-old scored a fine century, his second of the season and fifth first-class ton, to catapult the visitors to a first-innings total of 484. Senokwane was ably supported by Lesiba Ngoepe, with whom he shared a 162-run partnership.
That fine work was complemented by Migael Pretorius (93 off 128) and Bamanye Xenxe's 113-run eighth-wicket partnership that pushed the Dragons' total to 477. Pretorius reached his ninth first-class half-century, while Xenxe chalked his maiden half-ton, remaining unbeaten on 67 off 117 balls.
In reply, the Rocks fumbled their way to 253, a score built on the back of Shaun Von Berg's 62 off 100 balls. Their top four batters stop-started, but neither reached 30 runs, and Michael Copeland was the second-highest scorer with 40 runs to his name. The 21-year-old wicketkeeper turned around and converted a start to a milestone in the second innings after his side was asked to follow-on by Wihan Lubbe.
Copeland top-scored with an unbeaten 50 off 98 deliveries, his third first-class half-century in another innings where the top order did not perform. Aviwe Mgijima was the second-highest scorer with 41 off 79.
Gideon Peters was the standout bowler for the Dragons in the match with eight wickets for 109 runs in 39.2 overs. Shaun Von Berg was the pick of the bowlers for the Rocks with three wickets for 100 runs in 28.5 overs. Hardus Viljoen also bagged three wickets but did so at a higher economy rate.
GBETS ROCKS: Janneman Malan, Pieter Malan (c), Stiaan van Zyl, Aviwe Mgijima, Michael Copeland, Nathan Engelbrecht, Shaun von Berg, Hardus Viljoen, Glenton Stuurman, Siyabonga Mahima, Jevano Baron.
NORTH WEST DRAGONS: Lesego Senokwane, Grant Mokoena, Lesiba Ngoepe, Rubin Hermann, Migael Pretorius, Tahir Isaacs, Duan Jansen, Bamanye Xenxe, Caleb Seleka, Gideon Peters.