Bad light stopped play early, with the Highveld Lions battling to stay in the Sunfoil match against the Dolphins at Pietermaritzburg.
They went in to the pavilion on 108-4, thanks to an unbeaten, fighting stand of 59 by Dominic Hendricks (47) and Dwaine Pretorius (33). They trail the Dolphins by 231 runs.
Test spinner Keshav Maharaj did the damage when the Lions began their reply to the Dolphins’ first-innings offering of 339, taking three wickets for nine runs in the early stages.
His variation confused the Lions batsmen, taking out Proteas opener Stephen Cook (17) and Nicky van den Bergh (4) lbw, and then bowling Devon Conway (0). Mthokozisi Shezi had set the ball rolling by trapping Rassie van der Dussen for 0 in the fifth over, with the score on four.
Hendricks dug in, taking 136 balls (7×4, 1×6) for his 47, while Pretorius was a bit more cavalier, striking at 50.76 for his 33 (6×4).
Earlier, the Lions wrapped up the Dolphins innings in 19 overs. They resumed the day on 285-6, with Khaya Zondo on 102. But he had little support from the tail and was left stranded on 147 when the last wicket fell.
Dwaine Pretorius added two more to his overnight strikes, ending with 5-54.
Photo: Chris Ricco/BackpagePix
