Times Media
TELFORD VICE, Cape Town
THE Knights earned their first points of the One-Day Cup on Sunday when their match against the Titans at Wllowmoore Park in Benoni was abandoned because of a dangerous pitch.
Umpires Gerrie Pienaar and Dennis Smith called off proceedings after 19 overs in which the Titans reached 45/3.
“The ball was jumping up and rearing quite badly and then it just got worse,” match referee Barry Lambson said. “By the 13th over, it was really bad.”
Malusi Siboto, a purveyor of steady but unthreatening medium pace, smacked Henry Davids and Heino Kuhn on the arm with deliveries that rose steeply for no good reason.
Then Theunis de Bruyn and Dean Elgar were victims of balls that kept low followed by others that leapt at their throats.
“The umpires consulted again and we decided it was too dangerous to continue,” Lambson said. “Someone could have been badly injured and we didn’t want to wait for that.”
As the visiting team, the Knights were awarded the points. But the bad news might not end there: in terms of Cricket SA (CSA) regulations, a fine of up to R150 000 could still be levied and Benoni could be struck off the list of venues for international matches next season
“I have compiled my match report; it is up to CSA what happens next,” Lambson said.
Cobras v Lions
In Paarl, the Cobras earned their third success in as many matches with a 53-run win over the Lions, who recorded their first loss after two victories and a washout.
Andrew Puttick’s 94, Stiaan van Zyl’s 91 not out and Justin Ontong’s 83 anchored the Cobras’ 337/3 - the fourth total above 300 this season. Puttick and Omphile Ramela put on 101 for the first wicket before Van Zyl and Ontong added 154 for the third.
The Lions advanced to 131/2 in the 24th over before losing Stephen Cook, Neil McKenzie, Jean Symes and Thami Tsolekile in six overs while adding just 15 runs.
Dwaine Pretorius and Hardus Viljoen shared a stand of 121 with their scores of 77 not out and 52 to ensure the Lions went down fighting in a reply of 284/7.
Dolphins v Titans
The Warriors claimed their first win in three matches by beating the Dolphins by four wickets in Pietermaritzburg, where the KwaZulu-Natalians’ suffered their first loss following two wins and a washout.
The Dolphins slipped to 1/1 and 29/2 before Vaughn van Jaarsveld and Cody Chetty put them back on course with a partnership of 100 - the biggest stand in their total of 274/8.
Van Jaarsveld smacked his 118 off 99 balls with eight fours and five sixes, while Chetty scored 50. But the Dolphins’ next best effort was Robbie Frylink’s 42 not out, which flew off 21 balls.
The Warriors’ reply began brightly with a stand of 127 between openers JJ Smuts and Michael Price. It took the Dolphins 30.5 overs to separate them, which happened when Price played on to off-spinner Prenelan Subrayen to end his innings at 70. Smuts made 94 before being caught at deep midwicket off Rabian Engelbrecht.
That left the Warriors to score 50 more runs off 33 balls, and they got there with three to spare thanks largely to Christiaan Jonker’s 30 not out off 16 balls.
Craig Alexander kept things interesting by taking three wickets in the last four overs.
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