Griquas stage recovery against Dragons

An unbroken last wicket partnership of 60 between Alfonso Thomas and Garth Roe carried the Dragons to the unexpected prosperity of 199 for nine when bad light forced an early close on the first day of their SuperSport Series match against Griquas at the De Beers Oval.

The Dragons had been reduced to 49 for six in the morning session and were hardly a picture of health when Thomas and Roe were joined at 139 for nine.

But circumspect batting and the softening of the ball on what had been a hard and bouncy wicket helped them ease their way to the close with Thomas undefeated on 36 and Roe on 29.

The repair work had been started by top scorer Morne Strydom (43) and Ezra Pool (22) who had put on 57 for the eighth wicket having come together shortly before lunch.

The Dragons' decision to bat first had looked unwise as the Griquas seam attack of Wayne Kidwell and Zahir Abrahim took three wickets apiece in a devastating morning session.

Wicketkeeper Wendell Bossenger snapped up four catches and another was offered to the slips as the Dragons batsmen were completely unable to deal with the bounce and movement.

They went to lunch at 72 for seven but the home side's hopes of wrapping up the innings before tea then began to go sour.

Strydom and Pool were finally separated when Pool was lbw to Craig Tatton and although Strydom followed to a catch at the wicket by Deon Kruis, Griquas' struggles had just begun.

They took the extra half hour before tea to winkle out the last wicket, but Thomas and Roe stuck limpet-like to the crease to leave the game wide open when play resumes half an hour early on Saturday.