DAY 1: Senokwane century puts Dragons ahead, Sipamla stars for Lions

Lesego Senokwane was in fine form, scoring his second century of the season, as he helped the North West Dragons take control of day one of their CSA 4-day Challenge match against the Gbets Rocks at Eurolux Boland Park, Paarl, on Wednesday.

At stumps, the visitors were on 338 for six wickets.

The visitors had Migael Pretorius (34 off 53) and Duan Jansen (10 off 29) at the crease.

Senokwane, who faced the first delivery of the day, struck 18 fours on his way to a brilliant 137 off 262 balls. It is his fifth first-class ton.

The 30-year-old opened the batting with Grant Mokoena, but that partnership was short-lived.

Mokoena, who almost singlehandedly saved the match when the Dragons faced the Dolphins, scored six runs off 11 balls in his brief stay.

Mokoena was replaced by Lesiba Ngoepe, with whom Senokwane batted twice in the day.

In their first spell together, Senokwane and Ngoepe stitched together a 91-run second-wicket stand which they put on hold when Ngoepe retired hurt after experiencing problems with his left calf.

ALL-ROUNDERS TAKE CONTROL

In Ngoepe's absence, Senokwane shepherded the Dragons while he lost partners at the other end.

Rubin Hermann and Wihan Lubbe were dismissed in consecutive deliveries from Hardus Viljoen in the 38th over, and Tahir Isaacs stuck around for long enough to stitch a 71-run fourth-wicket partnership with Senokwane.

When Ngoepe returned, the pair added 71 runs to their partnership for a total of 162 runs for their second-wicket stand.

Ngoepe reached his 30th half-century in this phase of the game. His erstwhile partner followed him back to the pavilion 6.4 overs later.

With their star performers both dismissed, allrounders Migael Pretorius and Duan Jansen took control of the innings and saw to it that the visitors did not lose more wickets in the day.

Glenton Stuurman was the standout bowler for the Rocks. The 31-year-old pacer took two wickets for 68 runs in 23 overs.

His new-ball partner, Hardus Viljoen, also bagged a brace of wickets but did so at a higher economy of 3.52 runs an over compared to Stuurman's 2.96.

Spinners Shaun Von Berg and Siyabonga Mahima took a wicket each.

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.

DRAGONS: Lesego Senokwane, Grant Mokoena, Lesiba Ngoepe, Rubin Hermann, Migael Pretorius, Tahir Isaacs, Duan Jansen, Bamanye Xenxe, Caleb Seleka, Gideon Peters.

SIPAMLA BAGS A FOUR-FOR AS BOWLERS DOMINATE

Lutho Sipamla bagged his ninth first-class four-wicket haul as he helped the DP World Lions restrict the Multiply Titans to a total of 227 on day one of their CSA 4-day Challenge match at Supersport Park, Centurion.

At stumps, the Lions were on 33 for the loss of two wickets in reply.

The visitors trail the Titans by 194 runs with eight wickets in hand. They had Joshua Richards (13 off 43) and Ryan Rickelton (5 off 24) at the crease.

Dayyaan Galiem and Junior Dala had taken the early wickets of Dominic Hendricks and Wandile Makwetu.

The No 2 and three batters had found themselves back in the hutch seven overs into the innings.

Earlier in the day, 25-year-old Sipamla made a dream comeback to cricket after a lengthy period on the sidelines.

He last played a competitive match for the South Africa A side in Sri Lanka in July 2023.

His season was hampered by injuries and personal problems. Sipamla ended the day with four wickets for 48 runs in 12.3 overs.

THE SIPAMLA SHOW

Delano Potgieter, who took early wickets for the Lions in the morning, opened the door for Sipamla and the rest of the bowling attack to dominate.

The 27-year-old saw to it that Joshua van Heerden and Musa Twala were back in the dressing room in the sixth over.

The Titans offered a 53-run resistance through Matthew Kleinveldt and Dewald Brevis before Codi Yusuf struck.

After that, it was the Sipamla show. The pacer dismissed Kleinveldt and Donovan Ferreira in a space of four deliveries on either side of the lunch break, and was at hand to clean up the tail, claiming the wickets of Corbin Bosch and Merrick Brett late in the day.

The home team were in danger of putting up a sub-200 total but was saved by Sibonelo Makhanya, who played a proper captain's innings.

The middle-order batter, standing in for Neil Brand, scored a brilliant 66 off 106 at a healthy strike rate of 62.26.

Matthew Kleinveldt was the other outstanding batter for the Titans with 45 runs from 93 overs. No one else in the Titans batting line-up breached the 30-run mark.

STUMPS: We conclude day 1 with the DP World Lions on 33-2 after we were 227 all out.

Dayyaan Galiem and Junior Dala each got a wicket.

We go again tomorrow at 10:00. #4DaySeries pic.twitter.com/Gqz4yMdpHu

— Momentum Multiply Titans (@Titans_Cricket) February 21, 2024

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.

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.