Cobras, Knights fashion contrasting wins

An unbeaten 51-run stand for the eighth wicket helped defending champions Cobras sneak a two-wicket win against Dolphins in a rain-affected match in Pietermaritzburg. Dane Piedt and Charl Langeveldt came together in the middle with 47 runs required off 38 balls, but with only two wickets remaining, Dolphins were the clear favourites. Dolphins' bowlers, however, bowled two lose overs which turned the equation in cobras favour from 42 off 30 to 14 off 18. Langeveldt finished the match with two consecutive boundaries in the penultimate over giving Cobras their first points.

Cobras made a solid start in chase of 254 as they got to 76 for 2 after 18 overs. But the rains came to hold up play for 40 minutes at the stage and the target was readjusted as per D/L method to 222 off 40 overs. Batsmen Andrew Puttick and Stiaan van Zyl responded to the sudden jump in the required rate with aggressive shots but didn't last long enough and were both out to seamer Prenelan Subrayen. The incoming batsmen crumbled under pressure as four more wickets fell for 30 runs before the eight-wicket pair's late burst.

Dolphins chose to bat under blue skies but lost their openers within first six overs. Captain Daryn Smit and Vaughn van Jaarsveld then took a cautious approach to knit together a 121-run stand, both batsmen completing slow half-centuries in the process. Dolphins needed a late surge and the cameo came through David Miller's bat. Miller scored 68 off 45 balls and hit nine boundaries and a six to bring some urgency and take the total past 250.

Knights joined Lions at the top of the table with a bonus point win over Warriors in their first domestic one-day cup match in Kimberley. Allrounder Ryan McLaren was the chief architect of the win with a five-wicket haul in addition to the 47 he scored while batting.

Put in to bat, Knights were setback in the first over when Ryan Bailey was caught behind off Andrew Birch without scoring. However, Reeza Hendricks and Rilee Rossouw set about building their 66-run partnership with a flurry of boundaries. Hendricks was out soon after getting to his half-century but Rossouw continued to build a strong platform in the company of captain Dean Elgar. Rossouw scored the second half-century of the innings but it was Elgar who increased the pace with his innings and brought up his half-century too.

After a 95-run stand between the two, wickets fell at regular intervals. However, the batsmen who followed didn't let the scoring rate to fall and 84 runs came off the last 10 overs.

Chasing a big total, a lot depended on the opening pair of brother JJ and Kelly Smuts but both were out within the first four overs putting early pressure on the middle order. Colin Ingram and Davy Jacobs responded with half-centuries but the two lacked support from the rest. As the required rate started shooting up, the batsmen started faltering and McLaren ran through the tail to complete a big win.