Christiaan Jonker smashed 49 off just 18 balls to take the Warriors across the line against the Lions, winning their CSA T20 Challenge by six wickets.
He was able to take advantage of a solid foundation laid by Jon-Jon Smuts (31) and Somila Seyibokwe (17) as the Warriors chased an sub-par 152 for victory. Colin Ackermann gave the innings a boost with 22 off 15 balls before Jonker let fly with three fours and five sixes at a strike rate of 272.
The Lions may have considered it a job well done when they closed at 152-5, considering the slow start they had. Having chosen to bat, Dominic Hendricks and Rassie van der Dussen scraped together just 34 runs in the powerplay. With just five boundaries (4×4, 1×6), they were still behind the eight- ball at the halfway mark at 63-0.
Van der Dussen fell to the left-arm spin of Smuts in the 11th over for 29 off 25 balls, and the Warriors bowlers maintained their grip.
Hendricks was another Smuts victim, going caught and bowled for 39 off 48, and while Mangaliso Mosehle attempted to inject urgency with a dynamic 49 off 28 (4×4, 2×6), there was little support.
In Centurion, the match between the Titans and the Cobras was washed out.
The beleaguered Cobras, enmeshed in a player-coach dispute and with just one win all season, cannot buy a break.
They have already had one match abandoned, and they lost another by three runs when asked to smash 70 off six overs in a D/L game.
At Centurion, rain reduced the match to 10 overs aside, and Rory Kleinveldt made his presence felt with 28 off eight balls (1×4, 4×6). But, having offered the Titans a target of 116, rain came down again and that was that.
That leaves the Cobras with one win from six matches in this T20 series
Photo: Frikkie Kapp/BackpagePix
