The Central Gauteng Lions made further gains in the 4-Day Series despite drawing their round-six match, while there were wins for the KZN Dolphins and Western Province.
The Dolphins claimed a six-wicket victory over the North West Dragons at Kingsmead where Jason Smith scored a rare fourth-innings century in a chase of 240.
Batting first, the visitors scored 311 thanks to half-centuries by Raynard van Tonder (54), Wihan Lubbe (59), Ruan de Swardt (75) and Rubin Hermann (65).
Prenelan Subrayen was the pick of the bowlers with 4-91.
The hosts could only reply with 260 – Romashan Pillay top-scoring with 70 and Sarel Erwee hitting 55 – as De Swardt (3-39) and Odirile Modimokoane (3-46) impressed.
But the game then changed in the next phase as Bryce Parson’s impressive 5-28 left the Dragons all out for 186 and a target of just under 150.
Smith then grabbed the opportunity and knuckled down to score a pivotal 117* off 136 balls (13 fours, three sixes), supported by Parsons (36) and Khaya Zondo (48), to take the Dolphins to a key one.
It was a result that lifted them to second on the table with 80.36 points, though still some way off the Lions (97.14).
The Northerns Titans stayed third despite losing their encounter against Western Province by seven wickets in Centurion.
Tony de Zorzi (78*) and David Bedingham (67) played a key role in that result, overcoming the loss of some early wickets to share a 123-run third-wicket stand and help WP chase down 187 to win comfortably with more than a day to spare.
Jody Lawrence (3-49 and 4-39) also made his mark with the ball by taking seven wickets in the match as the hosts were dismissed for 225 and 211.
Lhuan-dre Pretorius struck a first-innings ton for the Titans when he recorded 103 off 157 balls (13 fours, one six), while Dewald Brevis (99) fell one short of a century when he stood man alone in the second innings.
Defeat for the hosts meant they lost ground in the title race and now sit in mid-table on 77.74 points where three teams are right behind them.
Province are one of them in in sixth with 73.54 points.
In fourth, right behind the Titans, are the Free State Knights (76.76) and Boland (75), both of whom saw their weekend games in draws.
In Paarl, a little over 166 overs were only possible in the Boland-Lions clash.
The hosts batted first and fell for 229. Bjorn Fortuin was the key man for the log-leaders claiming an impressive haul of 6-83, with Clyde Reeves-Fortuin hitting 61.
In reply, the Lions faired marginally better by posting 259. Zubayr Hamza hit 83, while Shaun von Berg collected 4-82.
In Gqeberha, rookie Matthew de Villiers delivered the stand-out batting performance of the weekend when he scored a superb double ton for the EP Warriors in their drawn game against the Knights.
The 24-year-old, in his debut season and playing just his sixth game, scored a free-flowing 201 off 221 balls (28 fours) in the hosts’ second-innings total of 349-5 declared.
Both teams struggled when they batted the first time around with the Warriors first making 171 and the Knights then replying with 191.
Johan van Dyk took 4-48 for the side from Bloemfontein and they had veteran Aaron Phangiso to thank for helping them get that 20-run lead after he hit 74.
Beyers Swanepoel excelled for the hosts with 6-30.
De Villiers’ double allowed the Warriors to declare on 349-5 and set a 329-victory target.
But time was against them as the Knights finished with 166-4. Swanepoel (2-33) took two more wickets to finish with eight in the match.
The draw means the Warriors remain winless this season and they remain bottom with 49.06 points, just under 10 points adrift of the Dragons (58.02).
Fixtures:
Round 7
27-30 March: Western Province vs Boland
27-30 March: Central Gauteng Lions vs KZN Dolphins
27-30 March: Northerns Titans vs North West Dragons
Round 8
3-6 April: EP Warriors vs KZN Dolphins
3-6 April: Free State Knights vs Central Gauteng Lions
3–6 April: Northerns Titans vs Boland
3-6 April: North West Dragons vs Western Province
Photo: @DolphinsCricket/X
