Lutho Sipamla took four wickets as the Central Gauteng Lions beat Western Province by 40 runs in the One-Day Cup on Saturday.
The Proteas paceman claimed 4-43 in nine overs as the hosts were bowled out for 219 in pursuit of 260 – a total built around former home favourite Zubayr Hamza’s 56 off 79 balls (three fours, one six).
After winning the toss and batting, the visitors were in trouble at 65-3 when Kyle Simmonds (3-40) struck to remove Joshua Richard (29) and Reeza Hendricks (32) after Dane Paterson (2-44) accounted for Wandile Makwetu for a third-over duck.
Mitchell van Buuren (48) and Hamza then rebuilt the innings by putting on 104 for the fourth wicket.
Though both fell before the 200 came up, Connor Esterhuizen (38), Delano Potgieter (17) and the explosive Codi Yusuf (18* off eight balls) took the Johannesburg-based side past 250.
The hosts also struggled during the early part of their chase when they fell to 71-4, with Bjorn Fortuin (2-40) and Yusuf (1-31) largely responsible for the Lions’ early stronghold.
Edward Moore (66 off 94 balls; three fours, two sixes) and captain George Linde (55 off 58 balls; six fours) strung together a partnership of 90 that finally ended in the 37th over.
Sipamla broke the stand and then got rid of Moore and two others as the hosts were bowled out for 219 in 46.5 overs.
There was also a good win on the opening day of the tournament for the North West Dragons, who beat the Free State Knights by four wickets in Potchefstroom.
The Knights posted 257 thanks to a blazing 85 off 77 balls from Jacques Snyman (five fours, three sixes) and useful contributions from Patrick Botha (40) and Dominic Hendricks (29).
Ruan de Swardt (3-44), Kerwin Mungroo (2-35) and Matthew Kleinveldt (2-39) all picked up wickets for the hosts.
Janneman Malan (90 off 118 balls; six fours, one six) and Kleinveldt (42) gave their side a good start to the chase, and even though the Dragons lost wickets regularly, they kept up with the required run rate thanks to the former holding up one end.
Malan was eventually the last batsman to fall with the total on 220, but by that time there had been handy contributions from Rubin Hermann (30), captain Lesiba Ngoepe (24) and Tahir Isaacs (21).
De Swardt (19*) and Migael Pretorius (23*) then ended the game in a hurry with the Dragons sealing victory with 3.1 overs to spare.
Photo: Ashley Vlotman/Gallo Images
