Dolphins hang on at Newlands

Western Province Boland 233 and 336 for 6 dec (Puttick 87, Strydom 50, Duminy 102) drew with Dolphins 325 and 160 for 8 (Kent 53, de Lange 4-26, Dawson 3-40)
Scorecard

At Newlands the Dolphins hung on for dear life, and ended up earning a draw as Western Province Boland pushed hard for the win. Batting on from their overnight total of 279 for 3 Western Province Boland waited for JP Duminy to complete his hundred before declaring at 336 for 6 and setting the Dolphins a target of 245. Duminy's hundred, his second of the season, came off 148 balls. The Dolphins started their chase badly, with four wickets going down for 68. Jon Kent, with a valuable 53, stemmed the tide for a while but in the end, with Dale Benkenstein already back in Durban with a broken hand, it was left to Lance Klusener and Tyron Pillay to bat out the final overs as Con de Lange and Alan Dawson threatened to steal the spoils. But the Dolphins' final wicket managed to hold on for 10.3 overs to secure the draw.

Warriors 422 for 9 dec and 239 for 4 dec (Pope 113, Bradfield 59) drew with Eagles 368 for 7 dec and 85 for 4
Scorecard

At Buffalo Park the match was called off early after the Eagles settled for the draw after losing two quick second-innings wickets. Steven Pope, with his second hundred of the match, almost put the Warriors in an unassailable position, scoring 113 to go with his undefeated 156 in the first innings. A patient 59 from Carl Bradfield, who played the anchor role to Pope, set the Eagles an unrealistic target of 294 when the declaration came. Those two early wickets forced the Eagles into defensive mode, and when the last hour approached they had crept along to 85 for 4 when the captains decided that enough was enough and agreed on a draw.

Lions 346 for 8 (Ontong 98, Ackerman 129, Nel 4-86) drew with Titans 252 (Cullinan 102, Hall 5-31)
Scorecard

There was almost a full day at Willowmoore Park in Benoni - play started just an hour late after the previous two days had been washed out by heavy rain and a waterlogged outfield. It was always going to be a draw, so there was only bonus points (from the first 100 overs) to play for today. The Lions declared at their first-day total of 346 for 8, thus denying the Titans an extra bowling point. Andrew Hall, released from his national-squad duties, briefly threatened to rip the heart out of the Titans, but the experience of their captain, Daryll Cullinan, saved the day. He played one of his classic innings, scoring 102 from 134 balls, with ten fours and three sixes. Hall ended the day with 5 for 31 off 17 overs, highlighting the chasm between first-class and Test cricket, as the Titans were bowled out for 252.