Grant Roelofsen and Pieter Malan scored brilliant centuries as they lifted Goldrush Boland to 328/4 on the first day of their CSA 4-Day Series match against the Dafabet Warriors at Boland Park, Paarl, on Thursday.
Boland, who won the toss and elected to bat first, had Aviwe Mgijima (56*) and Michael Copeland (0*) at the crease at stumps.
When Boland and Janneman Malan decided to part ways, the Paarl side went to market to find a replacement. They stopped their search for an opening partner for Pieter Malan when they signed Roelofsen from the Hollywoodbets Dolphins. The opener did not have a great outing with the home side in his first match, getting a start and failing to convert.
The 28-year-old showed his range of abilities as he registered Boland's first century of the season in an impressive 191-run opening partnership with Pieter Malan. Roelofsen was circumspect in the early part of his innings, facing 99 deliveries to reach 50 runs. However, after getting his eye in, the opener raced to 100, facing only 62 balls for his second 50. Roelofsen was dismissed after scoring a magnificent 115 off 171 deliveries. This is his ninth first-class ton.
His opening partner, Malan was the anchor of the innings. He adopted the role of the foil to Roelofsen's stroke-making. The 35-year-old faced 117 balls to reach the 50-run mark and a further 125 deliveries for the second 50. The seasoned campaigner faced 242 balls on his way to his 40th first-class ton. After Roelofsen's dismissal, Malan shared a 24-run second-wicket partnership with Gavin Kaplan and a 64-run third-wicket stand with Aviwe Mgijima.
With Malan gone, the onus fell on Mgijima to keep the momentum, and the 36-year-old did exactly that. He faced 93 balls for his half-century. It is his 18th first-class half-ton. Mgijima shared a 49-run fourth-wicket partnership with Clyde Fortuin. Fortuin was dismissed for 23 off 26 with the last delivery of the day.
Siya Plaatjie was the pick of the bowlers for the Warriors with two wickets for 47 runs in 16 overs. Senuran Muthusamy and Duanne Olivier were the other wicket-takers, with a single wicket each.
BOLAND: 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.