Viljoen, Cook star in big Lions win

Hardus Viljoen picked up his second straight ten-wicket match haul and Stephen Cook struck an unbeaten third-innings 168 as Lions wrapped up a 203-run win over Warriors at the Wanderers.

Sent in to bat, Lions made a poor start, with three of their top four falling for single-digit scores, before half-centuries from Qaasim Adams and Nicky van den Bergh steered them to 291. Viljoen led Lions' defence of that total, claiming figures of 6 for 44 in helping bowl Warriors out for 163. Left-arm spinner Aaron Phangiso was the other major wicket-taker, with figures of 3 for 36.

Lions now led by 128, and Cook made sure they would swell it considerably in their second innings. He made an unbeaten 168 off 256 balls, scoring over 57% of their runs before they declared on 294 for 4, setting Warriors a target of 423.

Apart from the opener Colin Ackermann, who made a 189-ball 89, Warriors' top order didn't prove up to the task, with the other four batsmen in their top order falling for single-digit scores. From 39 for 4, Ackermann and Clyde Fortuin (39) steadied Warriors' innings with a fifth-wicket stand of 78, but there was little resistance thereafter. Fortuin fell in the eighth over of the fourth morning, and the rest of the Warriors line-up only lasted a further 23.3 overs. Viljoen picked up four second-innings wickets to finish with match figures of 10 for 123.