The North West Dragons and the Lions could not be separated as they played out to a draw in their tightly contested CSA four-day clash at the JB Marks Oval in Potchefstroom yesterday.
The match was perfectly poised after the Lions declared their first innings on 399/9, 26 runs short of the home side’s first innings total of 425/6d. Bjorn Fortuin (120) top scored for the Lions with his second century of the tournament.
Matthew Kleinveldt (76* not out) and Janneman Malan (55*) opening second innings stand of 136 runs guided the home side to a lead of 161 runs.
Malan backed up his first innings score of 63 with another half-ton, but ultimately, with a lot of time lost due to bad weather, both captains decided to shake hands just before the final tea interval of the match.
Raynard van Tonder was the only centurion for the Dragons, and his score of 120 was the highest in their batting innings, followed closely by Wihan Lubbe on 85. Ruan de Swardt starred with the ball picking up 5/67 in the Lion’s only batting innings.
The visitors also had some useful contributions from Joshua Richards (75) and Wiaan Mulder (56) earlier in the match, and it was their 109 partnership that kept them in the contest after falling to 40/2.
Conor Esterhuizen (83) with Fortuin ensured the match was evenly poised throughout, with the wicketkeeper batter narrowly missing out on a well-played century following the 192-run partnership with his skipper.
Elsewhere, Western Province missed out on a chance to make it two wins on the spin as they shared the spoils with the Warriors in their contest at the Newlands Cricket Ground in Cape Town yesterday.
The Warriors came into the final day needing an unlikely 351 runs to win having already lost two wickets with only ten runs on the board. Hope was restored though with the pairing of Jordan Hermann (98) and Matthew Breetzke (53).
Their stand of 128 kept the visitors interested for the first two sessions, but Province roared back into the match, dismissing the two set batters in quick succession.
Sinethemba Qeshile stood tall for the Warriors, and his hard-fought 34 runs off 172 balls earned his side a well-deserved draw when they were staring down at a heavy defeat at the close of play last night.
George Linde was the top performer with the bat in the match with scores of 152 and 57, while Edward Moore's 127 played a huge hand in the homeside, dictating proceedings for large parts of the encounter.
Kyle Simmonds picked up eight wickets for 132 runs and almost bowled the home side to victory, but it wasn't to be as the Warriors battled it out to the last ball and secured a draw.