Day 4: Clinical Boland slay Warriors

Goldrush Boland produced three centuries and a 10-wicket haul as they defeated the Dafabet Warriors by an innings and 11 runs in their CSA 4-Day Series match at Boland Park on Sunday.

Aviwe Mgijima, Grant Roelofsen and Pieter Malan scored brilliant centuries as the hosts put up a massive 500-run first-innings total, after choosing to bat first.

Malan and Roelofsen put Boland in a strong position with an outstanding 191-run opening partnership.

Roelofsen, who registered his ninth first-class century, faced 171 deliveries for his 115.

Malan, on the other hand, faced 257 balls for his 106 and his 40th first-class ton.

The third centurion, Mgijima, faced 172 deliveries to chalk his fifth first-class century.

He scored the most runs of the trio, finishing his innings with 122 off 214 balls.

With an imposing first-innings lead, Boland needed a clinical effort from their bowlers to put the Warriors under the pump. And Shaun von Berg did not disappoint.

VON BERG SHINES WITH THE BALL

The 38-year-old spinner led the destruction of the Warriors' batting line-up by registering his career-best bowling figures in the first innings. 

Von Berg bagged eight wickets for 54 runs in 21.4 overs, outperforming his previous best of 7-66. This was also the legspinner's 28th five-wicket haul.

Von Berg continued his great performance into the Warriors' second innings, where he took two more wickets for 84 runs in five overs.

He finished the match with 10 wickets for 138 runs.

The tally leaves Von Berg on 497, three wickets shy of the magic 500-dismissal mark.

He is also now the leading wicket-taker at Boland Park with 66 first-class wickets. With those figures, Von Berg was the best bowler in the match.

Von Berg's performance in the Warriors' second innings set the stage for Aya Gqamane to sweep the tail and register his ninth first-class four-wicket haul.

The pacer finished with four wickets for 48 runs in 13.5 overs.

Von Berg and Gqamane's wickets came as part of an afternoon surge that saw the home side overturn a promising Warriors batting performance.

HERMANN AND DE VILLIERS' EFFORTS IN VAIN

Jordan Hermann and Matthew de Villiers got together late on day three and set about constructing a potentially match-saving partnership.

The pair shared a 170-run third-wicket partnership that reduced the probability of a Boland victory with every second they stayed in the middle.

Hermann scored an outstanding 152 and De Villiers added 87

Hermann and De Villiers were the key wickets. Von Berg and Glenton Stuurman dismissed them between the 97th and 100th over.

Von Berg gave the hosts a chance when he accounted for Hermann and Stuurman opened the door to the lower order with De Villiers's dismissal 3.3 overs later.

One of the Warriors' biggest issues in the match was their propensity to lose wickets in clumps.

With the pair gone, things went downhill for the Warriors.

They lost six more wickets for 29 runs in 16 overs. In total, the Warriors lost eight wickets for 36 runs in 21.2 overs.

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.