Steyn's five rocks the Warriors

Arno Jacobs's ninth first-class fifty was the sole major contribution from the Warriors' batsmen who were dismissed for 157 against the Titans at Benoni. Although they were far from dominant on 127 for 5, their collapse to 157 all out handed over the initiative to the Titans. Dale Steyn (5 for 44) took only the second five-wicket haul of his career, and was impressively economical too, while Paul Harris returned useful figures of 3 for 22 from 11 overs.

Charl Willoughby stunned the Eagles with five wickets before Derrin Bassage led the Cape Cobras with an unbeaten knock of 75, to leave them trailing by just 10 runs on the opening day at Stellenbosch. The Eagles were reeling at 0 for 2 after just four balls, with Willoughby trapping both Ryan Bailey and Benjamin Hector lbw. At 52 for 6, they were in danger of collapsing to a spectacularly low score. However, Ryan McLaren (38) and Johan van der Wath (52) put on 65 for the seventh wicket to avoid capitulation as the Eagles were dismissed for 149. In reply, the Cape Cobras lost Andrew Puttick for 2 but Bassage stood firm to guide them within touching distance of the Eagles' first innings total with seven wickets remaining.

On a rain-affected day at Johannesburg, Vaughn van Jaarsveld's anchor innings of 116 steadied the Lions against the Dolphins. The Lions were reduced to 13 for 3 by the sixth over, with Andrew Tweedie picking up 2 for 50, before van Jaarsveld combined firstly with Neil McKenzie (41) and then with Matthew Harris (23*), with whom he put on an unbroken stand of 56 with eight fours. Dale Benkenstein, though he picked up only one wicket, was the most economical for the Dolphins, conceding 27 from his 11 overs as the Lions closed on 199 for 4 when bad light called an end to proceedings.