Duan Jansen was masterful with his line and length as the North West Dragons restricted the GBets Warriors to 197 for five at the close of play on day two of their CSA 4-day Challenge at the JB Marks Oval on Sunday.
At stumps, the Dragons had a commanding 229-run lead over the Warriors who still have five wickets in hand.
The Dragons scored 426/9 declared in their first innings with Lesego Senokwane notching a well-deserved century.
The Warriors’ reply to that total ran into choppy waters almost immediately as they lost both of their openers in the first 17 overs of their innings.
With Diego Rosier and Jordan Hermann both back in the hutch, the Warriors deployed captain Matthew Breetzke (14) and Tristan Stubbs (29) to stabilise the innings.
The Proteas duo shared a 23-run partnership before Jansen broke it with the dismissal of Breetzke.
Stubbs held on for a little longer before Migael Pretorius provided the home side with the breakthrough.
After Stubbs’s dismissal, Rudi Second and Sinethemba Qeshile gave the visitors hope with a resilient fifth-wicket partnership that almost saw them past 200.
When Second and Qeshile got together, the Warriors were struggling on 105 for four and they mounted a strong middle-order resistance that kept the visitors in the contest.
The pair shared a 92-run partnership that almost lasted till stumps.
Qeshile was dismissed on the last delivery of the day. The wicketkeeper fell four runs short of his 15th First Class half-century.
But Second was not to be denied his 45th First Class half-century. At stumps, the 34-year-old was unbeaten on 64 off 117.
Duan Jansen was the pick of the bowlers for the Dragons with three wickets for 29 runs in 10.5 overs.
Migael Pretorius and Ruan de Swardt bagged a wicket each.
NORTH WEST: Lesego Senokwane, Grant Mokoena, Raynard van Tonder, Wihan Lubbe (c), Suneran Muthusamy, Ruan de Swardt, Meeka-eel Prince, Migael Pretorius, Duan Jansen, Caleb Seleka, Kerwin Mungroo
WARRIORS: Jordan Hermann, Diego Rosier, Matthew Breetzke (c), Nealan van Heerden, Bayers Swanepoel, Patrick Kruger, Rudi Second, Tristan Stubbs, Alfred Mothoa, Sinethemba Qeshile, Siya Plaatjie