West Indians take the honours as KwaZulu-Natal draw first blood

KwaZulu-Natal drew first blood as the second match of the competition no team wanted to be in, the Supersport Shield, got under way, scoring 303 all out after winning the toss.

A huge six by number 10 Gary Gilder off left-armer Nicholas Mataboge in the 97th over ensured the Dolphins would reach 300 before the mandatory declaration after 100 overs, a factor which was rendered academic when last man in Jon Bastow was caught by Zander de Bruyn in the gully off the next ball, the first of Ottis Gibson's 22nd over, giving the West Indian his sixth wicket.

Gibson finished with six for 53, his best figures of a disappointing season for the re-named Highveld Strikers, who have failed to live up to the billing of their new team song, which refers to them as the "Extreme team" of South African cricket. The fact that they're playing in the Supersport Shield, the virtually meaningless competition for the only three provincial sides not to make the Super Eight phase of the Supersport Series, shows just how wide of the mark that has been.

By the close, having faced just two overs before bad light brought play to a halt, the Strikers had progressed to one without loss, that run going to Sven Koenig.

The day was largely a tale of two men from the Caribbean, with 40-year-old Antiguan Eldine Baptiste top-scoring for the visitors with 57 off 96 balls, including six fours, before becoming the fifth victim for Barbadian Gibson.

Aside from Baptiste, who shared an 84-run eighth-wicket partnership with Errol Stewart, after the Dolphins had lost four wickets for 15 runs to be 202 for seven, opener Mark Bruyns made 53, including 11 fours, and Ahmed Amla made exactly 50, striking six boundaries.