The Knights lost their last nine wickets for just 48 runs as they were beaten by the in-form Warriors by eight wickets.
It took a superb bowling performance across the board from the Warriors in Port Elizabeth on Wednesday night, stretching their winning run to three matches in a row to solidify second place on the standings. The Knights, meanwhile, haven’t won since the opening day of the tournament, with four defeats on the bounce.
While no less than four bowlers took two wickets for the Warriors, it was their skipper JJ Smuts who stood out once again with his all-round displays, taking 2-13 from his four overs with his slow-left armers, before cruising to a 35-ball 49. He stands at sixth on the runs and wickets tallies in the competition, testimony to his consistent efforts in both disciplines.
The Knights were going along pretty nicely with their star youngster Patrick Kruger smashing seven fours for his 26-ball 37, but the next-best score was 11 from skipper Theunis de Bruyn, as the batting lineup completely collapsed thanks to a series of decent efforts from Andrew Birch, Ayabulela Gqamane, Colin Ackermann and Smuts, who all took a brace as the visitors collapsed to 93 all out.
One good partnership was going to win it from there for the Warriors, and they found two with Somila Seyibokwe (11) and Smuts putting on 40, before Smuts and Colin Ingram (23 not out) finished off the job with nine overs still remaining.
Photo: Frikkie Kapp/Backpage Pix
