Mbane heroics lead to Dolphins-Warrior tie

Lundi Mbane's four wickets in the final over helped Warriors tie their match against Dolphins at Port Elizabeth. This result would have gone a long way in making amends for Wayne Parnell's error in the Warriors' previous match against Titans, when he had overstepped to cede the high-scoring thriller. The Warriors batted first, with Ashwell Prince guiding the team to 69 for 1 inside eight overs. Once Prince was bowled by Daryn Smit for 40, the rest of the Warriors line-up failed to post meaningful scores, with Parnell hammering 22 off 14 to help take Warriors to 152 for 7.

Dolphins began their chase brightly, with Cameron Delport and Morne van Wyk putting on 49 for the first wicket. Once Delport was dismissed, Cody Chetty (39) entered the fray, and with Vaughn van Jaarsveld added a further 57 to the total to take Dolphins to a strong position of 115 for 2 after 14.2 overs.

With just 38 more to get off 34 balls, it looked a walk in the park for Dolphins, but things began to take a sinister turn. First van Jaarsveld holed out to Simon Harmer off Mbane in the 18th over, then the wickets really began to tumble as Dolphins lost their last five wickets in the space of just ten deliveries as Mbane bowled the perfect last over to eke out four further wickets, including a run out, as Dolphins capitulated at the close, effectively ending the match as a tie.

Richard Levi's barnstorming 113 helped Cobras dismantle Knights by 80 runs in Bloemfontein.

The Cobras won the toss and elected to bat first, which proved to be the right decision as Levi and Hashim Amla blasted the Knights bowlers to the tune of 171 runs in 15 overs. Levi's innings came to an end when he was bowled through the gate by Ryan McLaren. Amla would fall just a few overs later when he was caught by Dillon du Preez on 65, off the bowling of Johan van der Wath. Their twin innings helped prop the team's score to an imposing 208 for 3.

The Knights never really had a chance at making a decent stab at the chase, as despite from Reeza Hendricks, who hit 64 off 50 to carry his bat till the end, the rest of the order failed to produce. Robin Peterson, Beuran Hendricks, Sunil Narine and JP Duminy all picked up two wickets as Knights faltered to 128 for 8 at the end of their quota of overs.

Some tight bowling at the death helped Titans edge Lions by just 10 runs in their encounter at Potchefstroom. Titans batted first, and despite losing two quick wickets to be reduced to 14 for 2 inside of four overs, Henry Davids (36) and Graeme van Buuren (55) ensured Titans were in the match with a productive stand of 72 runs by the midway mark. Farhaan Behardien chipped in with a vital 34 as the rest of the tail failed to wag to leave Titans on 158 for 9.

The Lions chase was bolstered by an 84-run opening stand between Quinton de Kock (52) and Gulam Bodi (36). However, once both batsmen fell by the 13th over, the Lions began to falter against the slowly rising required rate. Some tight bowling, which was constantly shuffled by their captain, Henry Davids, ensured the Lions batsmen never got comfortable with one particular bowler, as they failed to get to the target by just 10 runs as they wound their way to 148 for 3.