DAY 3: Mpongwana and Lawrence put Western Province in control
Mihlali Mpongwana and Jody Lawrence took eight wickets between them as WSB Western Province consolidated their position in their CSA 4-Day Series encounter against Goldrush Boland at WSB Newlands on Saturday.
Western Province were on 106-2 at stumps.
The hosts lead Boland by 380 runs with eight wickets in hand.
STUMPS DAY 3 #BoysinBlue💙 #westernprovince #WSBWP🧡#newlands #capetown #wpcricket #4DaySeries pic.twitter.com/cT1bI1pMX1
— Western Province Men (@WP_Blitz) March 29, 2025
Western Province won the toss, elected to bat first and registered a first-innings score of 592/8d.
Boland replied with a total of 318.
The hosts had Eddie Moore (44*) and David Bedingham (43*) at the crease at the close of play.
Western Province emerged for the third innings looking to be attacking.
That proved disastrous when they lost Daniel Smith early on. The wicket though did not force the home side to alter their plans.
They had added 24 runs when they lost their second wicket 20 balls later.
Moore and Bedingham consolidated with an unbroken 76-run third-wicket stand.
They were both going at a relatively brisk pace. Moore had faced 49 deliveries for his 44, while Bedingham had addressed 42 balls for his 43.
Earlier in the day, Mihlali Mpongwana and Jody Lawrence bagged a pair of four-wicket hauls to help Western Province bundle out Boland for 318.
Mpongwana finished the innings with 4-57 runs in 21 overs, while Lawrence bagged 4-58 runs in 16 overs.
Mpongwana took three of the five Boland wickets that fell in the post-lunch period as the hosts regained control of the innings after Clyde Reeves-Fortuin and Pieter Malan's showing in the morning session.
The allrounder ended Reeves-Fortuin's brilliant innings and also accounted for Shaun von Berg and Ferisco Adams' wickets.
Lawrence took over from Mpongwana and bagged the last three wickets of the innings.
He dismissed Aya Gqamane, Glenton Stuurman and Keith Dudgeon in consecutive overs to wrap up the innings.
BRIGHT SPARKS FOR BOLAND
The bright spark in Boland's innings were the centuries from Clyde Reeves-Fortuin and Pieter Malan.
Reeves-Fortuin emerged looking positive at the start of day three and scored at a quick rate.
The 29-year-old scored at a slightly quicker rate this morning. At stumps he had faced 96 deliveries for his unbeaten 55 runs.
This morning he needed a further 64 balls to reach his milestone. He scored a brilliant 129 from 214 balls.
Malan scored a patient 102 from 246 deliveries. He faced 243 deliveries to reach his 41st century.
Unfortunately for the visitors, Malan couldn't add more afterwards. He lost his wicket three balls after reaching the landmark.
WESTERN PROVINCE: Tony de Zorzi, Daniel Smith, Eddie Moore, David Bedingham, Kyle Verreynne (capt)(wk), George Linde, Mihlali Mpongwana, Dane Paterson, Jody Lawrence, Mthiwekhaya Nabe, Wesley Bedja.
BOLAND: Pieter Malan, Grant Roelofsen, Gavin Kaplan, Aviwe Mgijima, Clyde Reeves-Fortuin (capt)(wk), Shaun von Berg, Keith Dudgeon, Aya Gqamane, Ferisco Adams, Akhona Mnyaka, Glenton Stuurman.
