The Lions had a good win over KwaZulu-Natal Coastal on day one and followed that up with Monday’s only outright win – an innings and 99 runs win over Border at the picturesque SACS field. It was their SA U19 stars that did the business for them. Left-arm spinner Kgaudi Molefe opened the bowling for them and bowled throughout both the Border innings.

He took 4-19 in the first innings to help his side bowl Border out for 66, and 3/20 in the second as Border were reduced to 46-5, giving the Lions the outright win. Gauteng declared their innings on 211/9, with their captain, the SA U19 player Jacob Miltz getting 71 and Bryce Parsons smashing 46 off 44 balls.

Northerns put a dent in the hosts’ aspirations to reach the unofficial final by getting the better of a drawn clash at Rondebosch on Monday. After being in trouble early on, Northerns consolidated and got to 290-7, thanks to a 71 from Ximus du Plooy, well supported by Modiri Litheko (44) and Jandre Scheepers (67).

Justin Broad scored a very good 90 in Province’s reply, but they lost wickets regularly and ended on 199-7, still close to 100 runs behind.

On the back of their good win over KZN Inland on the first day, Northerns are now looking like ‘main game’ contenders. 

Following the flurry of runs on the opening day, day two was quieter, but there were still 14 half-centuries and one century –  Free State’s Calvin Flanegan got a quick 110 (99 ball, 10 fours and three sixes) against Mpumalanga.  

Apart from the 90 by Broad, Rudolf Claasen was 85 not out for Boland against KZN Inland; Jacob Miltz got 71 for Central Gauteng against Border; James Ritchie made 73 for KZN Inland against Boland; Ximus du Plooy got 71 for Northerns against WP; and Christoffel Klijnhans made 73 for Free State in the game against Mpumalanga.

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The other half-centuries were scored by Ruan Terblanche (53, Boland vs KZN Inland), Jandre Scheepers (67, Northerns vs WP), Tristan Stubbs (69, EP vs KZN Coastal) Heinrich Leighbrandt (52, EP vs KZN Coastal), Caleb Pillay (69, KZN Coastal vs EP), Andrew Louw (53, N Cape vs Easterns), Luke Holland (63, Easterns vs N Cape) and Duan Jansen (65, Northwest vs Limpopo).

There were two remarkable bowling performances on the day in addition to Kgaudi Molefe’s feat. Tyrique Wessels of SWD bowled six overs, all maidens, and took 3-0 to bowl Namibia out for 88, successfully defending a small total of 104 and ensuring a 1st innings win for his side.

Nicholas Fowler of Eastern Province took seven wickets against KZN Coastal. His figures of 7-37 in 12.2 overs were the best at the week for several years and they helped his side to a 1st innings victory.

The week changes format on Tuesday with all the teams playing two T20 games. The fixtures are as follows:

Morning
Central Gauteng vs Free State (Wynberg)
Boland vs SWD (Newlands)
Northerns vs Namibia (Rondebosch)
Eastern Province vs Mpumalanga (Langa)
KZN Coastal vs Easterns (Vineyard WPCC)
Western Province vs North West (Cape Town Cricket Club)
KZN Inland vs Limpopo (SACS)
Border vs N Cape (Bishops)

Afternoon
Central Gauteng vs Easterns (Wynberg)
Boland vs Northwest (SACS)
Northerns vs Limpopo (Rondebosch)
Eastern Province vs N Cape (Bishops)
KZN Coastal vs Free State (Vineyard WPCC)
Western Province vs SWD (Newlands)
KZN Inland vs Namibia (Cape Town Cricket Club)
Border vs Mpumalanga (Langa)

Summarised scores

Northerns first innings 290-7 (Ximus du Plooy 61 not out, Modiri Litheko 44, Musa Twala 33, Sebastian van Rooyen 32; Jordan Collier 3-53).
Western Province first innings 199-7 (Justin Broad 90, Thando Ntini 31; Dian Forrester 2-25, Sebastian van Rooyen 2-40)
Match drawn

Border first innings 66 (Matt Dewar 15, Luke Dallas 15; Kgaudise Molefe 4-19, Wesley van der Spuy 3-15, Tumelo Yeki 3-10)
Gauteng first innings 211-9 (Jacob Miltz 70, Bryce Parsons 46; Luke Dallas 4-76, Matt Dewar 3-34).
Border second innings 46-5 (Matt Dewar 30 not out; Kgaudise Molefe 3-20). 
Gauteng won outright

Boland first innings 242-3 (Rudolf Classen 60 not out, Ruben Terblanché 53, Samuel Henderson 51, Khaya Cotani 46; James Ritchie 3-43).
KwaZulu-Natal Inland first innings 231-7 (James Ritchie 73, Robert McGaw 41, Lwando Gqiba 39, Gareth Schreuder 35 not out; Achille Cloete 3-47). 
Match drawn 

Eastern Province first innings 219-9 (Tristan Stubbs 69, Heinrich Leighbrandt 52; Joshua Brown 3-34, Carl Heunis 2-6)
KwaZulu-Natal first innings 160 (Caleb Pillay 69, Hayden Rossouw 38 not out; Nicholas Fowler 7-37).
Eastern Province second innings 16-1
Eastern Province won on first innings

Free State first innings 246-5 (Calvin Flanegan 110, CP Klijhans 73, Ruan Cronjé 33 not out; Helmo du Preez 2-45).
Mpumalanga first innings 101 (Graeme Bouwer 26; Brian Kershaw 3-10, Ruan Cronjé 3-13).
Free State second innings 4-0
Mpumalanga second innings 39-4
Free State won on first innings

South Western Districts first innings 104 (Brian Jack 24; Jan-Izak de Villiers 2-17, Gerhard Lottering 2-22)
Namibia first innings 88 (Shaun Fouché 49; Reagan Rhode 4-17, Tyrique Wessels 3-0)
South Western Districts second innings 60-4 (Jade Titus 32; Mauritius Ngupita 3-3)
South Western Districts won on first innings

North West first innings 156-9 (Duan Jansen 65, Saad Shabbir 26; Fumani Maluleke 4-27, Sello Malatji 2-18)
Limpopo first innings 88 (Glen Groenewald 16; Stiaan Swanepoel 3-6, Odirile Modimokoane 3-20, Karabelo Matlawe 3-27)
North West second innings 38-3 (Stiaan Swanepoel 11; Louis Nel 2-4)
North West won on first innings

Northern Cape first innings 123 (Andrew Louw 53, Mason Zacharea 28; Sinenhlanhla Zwane 4-18, Nhlakanipho Nxumalo 3-14)
Easterns first innings 176-5 (Luke Holland 63, Maxwell Meyer 31; Mkhuseli Mayekiso 2-22)
Easterns won on first innings

Photo: Theo Garrun