Eagles soar after Rossouw brilliance

A fine allround performance from Ryan McLaren eased Eagles to a facile five-wicket win over Dolphins in Durban. Dolphins could only muster 137 for 9 in their 45 overs, with Hashim Amla's brother Ahmed top-scoring with 34. McLaren took 3 for 38 while Victor Mpitsang took 3 for 18 from nine miserly overs. Eagles began their chase of 138 in poor style, losing Morne van Wyk for a golden duck and Rilee Rossouw for just 8. But Loots Bosman cracked 35 from 32 before McLaren eased his side home with a patient 31.

Francois du Plessis's blistering 46 ensured there was no last-minute panic from Titans, who chased down 230 to beat the Lions by three wickets in Johannesburg. Before du Plessis arrived at the crease, however, it was Blake Snijman who anchored the innings with a neat 84 from 96 balls. Wickets continued to fall, but du Plessis cracked six fours and a six in his 41-ball 46 as Titans reached their target with 20 balls to spare. There were pairs of fifties from Vaughn van Jaarsveld and Jonathan Vandiar in the Lions' innings, while Basheeru-Deen Walters and Roelof van der Merwe took three wickets apiece.

Eagles' fine form continued on Friday thanks to a magnificent 131 from Rilee Rossouw, the 19-year-old left-hander. Rossouw's heroics led Eagles to a comprehensive 94-run win over Warriors in East London, as Loots Bosman smacked 87 and Boeta Dippenaar 74 from just 53 balls. Rossouw's second fifty came from just 29 balls and, in all, he stroked 11 fours while lifting three sixes. Warriors, chasing an unlikely 359, were never seriously part of the contest once they'd stumbled to 65 for 4. Johan Botha carved 54 from 44 but it was too little, too late. Dillon du Preez finished with 3 for 31.

Rossouw was at it again two days later, top-scoring for Eagles in their six-wicket thrashing of Lions in Kimberley. Impressive though he was, the ease with which Eagles swept to another victory owed much to their disciplined bowling performance, as du Preez, Mpitsang, Con de Lange and Thandi Tshabalala all took a brace of wickets to limit Warriors to an under-par 174. Bosman blasted Eagles out of the blocks with 49 from 32 before Rossouw eased 54 from 61 balls.

Cape Cobras brushed aside a feeble Titans by 101 runs in Centurion, dismissing their opponents for just 107. Fifties from JP Duminy and Justin Ontong led Cape Cobras to 208 from their 45 overs, but Titans weren't out of the contest. At 94 for 4 they were going along nicely, with Martin van Jaarsveld on 32. However, Rory Kleinveldt took two quick wickets while the ageless Claude Henderson chipped in with 4 for 25, as Titans lost their last seven wickets for 13 runs.