DAY 1: Hermann and De Villiers fight to keep the Warriors in the contest

Jordan Hermann and Matthew de Villiers scored wonderful half-centuries to lead the Dafabet Warriors to a first-innings score of 298 on day one of their CSA 4-Day Series match against the Renault Potchefstroom North West Dragons at Dafabet St George's Park on Thursday.

The Dragons, who had scored 3-0 in reply at stumps, trail by 295 runs with 10 wickets in hand.

They had Matthew Kleinveldt (1) and Janneman Malan (0) at the crease.

Hermann stroked 14 fours for his 99 off 184 deliveries.

He agonisingly missed out on a fourth first-class century by a single run.

This is his 11th four-day half-century. Another milestone the 22-year-old celebrated was reaching 1 500 first-class runs.

The left-hander fought a lone battle as wickets tumbled at the other end.

He eventually found a willing partner in Matthew de Villiers, who arrived at the crease at the start of the 34th over.

The 23-year-old, who is playing in his debut four-day match, showed that he is made of the right stuff by scoring 94 off 133 deliveries.

He faced 86 deliveries to register his maiden half-century and also shared a wonderful 98-run fifth-wicket partnership with Hermann.

Hermann was in the middle until the first over after tea.

The opener faced three deliveries after the interval, all of which were bowled by Migael Pretorius.

Two of those balls beat Hermann's outside edge and the third nicked the bat to give Meeka-eel Prince an easy catch behind the stumps. 

DE SWARTD SHINES WITH THE BALL

With the 22-year-old back in the pavilion, it was time for De Villiers to take charge, which he duly did.

De Villiers batted with control through his two partnerships with Patrick Kruger (14), Beyers Swanepoel (23) and Duanne Olivier.

The sixth, seventh and eighth-wicket stands were worth 25, 40 and 41 runs respectively.

The dismissal of De Villiers opened the door into the Warriors' tail, which added only 10 runs after the dismissal of De Villiers.

Ruan de Swardt was the pick of the bowlers for the Dragons.

The 26-year-old registered his maiden five-wicket haul, taking five wickets for 52 runs in 20.1 overs.

Qeshile and De Villiers were among his victims in the innings.

Pretorius finished the day with three wickets for 63 runs in 22 overs.

WARRIORS: Jordan Hermann (capt), Jiveshan Pillay, Andile Mogakane, Jean du Plessis, Sinethemba Qeshile (wk), Matthew de Villiers, Patrick Kruger, Beyers Swanepoel, Duanne Olivier, Renaldo Meyer, Siya Simetu.

DRAGONS: Janneman Malan, Matthew Kleinveldt, Lesiba Ngoepe, Rubin Hermann, Wihan Lubbe (capt), Ruan de Swardt, Meeka-eel Prince (wk), Migael Pretorius, Bamanye Xenxe, Kerwin Mungroo, Achille Cloete.