All-round Lions complete big win in three days

Lions 270 (Deacon 71, Williams 4-62) and 125 for 2 (de Kock 55) beat Cape Cobras 224 (van Zyl 44, de Bruyn 5-39) and 169 (Adams 88, de Bruyn 3-16) by eight wickets
Scorecard

Lions beat table-toppers Cape Cobras within three days at Newlands on the back of an all-round team performance and are now just 15 points adrift of Cobras.

Lions bowled out Cobras for 169 in the second innings which gave them a 124-run target. The batsmen, led by opener Quinton de Kock, then ensured there were no hiccups as they completed the chase in the 28th over for the loss of only two wickets. De Kock set the tone of the chase with a 75-ball 55 before Neil McKenzie hit a flurry of boundaries to expedite matters.

Cobras had started the third day on 81 for 6 - 35 ahead - but lost Johann Louw in the fourth over of the morning. An obdurate 63-run stand between Qaasim Adams and Charl Langeveldt took the lead past hundred, but the innings folded soon after Langeveldt fell to Imran Tahir. Adams, who scored 88, was the last wicket to fall.

Lions, who had chosen to field, bowled out Cobras on the first day for 224 with Zander de Bruyn taking a five-for. But Cobras sensed a first-innings lead when they had Lions on 131 for 6 at one stage. However, a crucial 110-run stand between wicketkeeper Thami Tsolekile and Cliffe Deacon - both batsmen hitting half-centuries - took Lions past the Cobras score to help Lions take a 46-run lead.