Bruyns and Jacobs battle on for draw

In Centurion, bad light and a 246-run partnership between Mark Bruyns and Arno Jacobs ensured that the Warriors earned a commendable draw against the Titans.

It was Paul Harris who got the breakthrough, as he bowled Bruyns for 142. Andre Nel then took the remaining four wickets, including that of Jacobs for 101, for a return of 5 for 79 to go with his 4 for 56 in the first innings. When the declaration came, Robin Peterson was on 53 and the Warriors 384 for 7, a lead of 282.

The Titans made every effort to chase down the target of 283 runs. A slight stumble with the loss of two early wickets was rescued by Goolam Bodi scoring 79 and Zander de Bruyn forcing 81 off 71 balls. With the light failing badly, Albie Morkel smashed a quick 33 but in the end the light won and both teams had to settle for the draw with overs to spare.

Eagles 541 for 9 dec and 100 for 3 drew with Dolphins 565 (Mall 214*, Wingfield 82, Khan 67, Kent 58, Deacon 4-115, Malao 3-147)
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The Eagles and the Dolphins played out to a dreary draw at Goodyear Park in Bloemfontein after the Dolphins' first innings came to a close one hour after the lunch break on the last day.

A marathon innings of nearly 11 hours rewarded the young Dolphins batsman, Ashraf Mall with not only his maiden first class hundred but also his first double hundred as he ended on an undefeated 214. He had been at the crease for 647 minutes and faced 468 balls, off which he struck 28 boundaries. Mall and the No 11 Mfuneko Ngam held the Eagles up for nearly two hours, in which only 42 runs were scored taking the Dolphins to 565 all out. In the morning session, Lance Klusener tried to up the tempo as he struck seven boundaries and scored 40 off 48 balls.

The tireless Cliff Deacon was rewarded for his unstinting efforts, with 4 for 115 in 35 overs, while Jacob Malao picked up 3 for 147 in a lengthy spell of 46.2 overs.

The Eagles quickly whittled off the deficit of 24 with the loss of Davey Jacobs caught behind off Ngam for 12 and James Henderson giving Klusener a return catch for 9.

With the Eagles on 82 for 4 after two more wickets fell, and the game in its final hour, the captains decided to call the match off as a draw.

In Paarl, the weather played a vital role throughout the four days' play at the game petered out into a tame draw between Western Province Boland and the Lions.

WPB completed their first innings losing the last five wickets for 59 as they posted 509, a lead of 147. Derek Crookes was the destroyer in chief as he took 4 for 124 in 42 overs.

The Lions innings started off well, but a double blow set them back to 89 for two with both openers, Adam Bacher (40) and Stephen Cook (24), falling leg before to Con de Lange. Justin Ontong scoring 56 and Neil McKenzie scoring 36 took the Lions to 167 for 2 when both captains called a halt to play an hour ahead of the official close.