Rudi Second guided the Knights to their third win in the Sunfoil Series, beating the Warriors by four wickets in East London on Sunday.
It fell to Second (65) for the glory, but it was a good team effort in match which swung wildly. But at the end of the first innings, the Knights held an 18-run advantage, an advantage rammed home by Shadley van Schalkwyk (4-44), with valuable contributions from Malusi Siboto (2-33) and Werner Coetsee (2-43).
They ran through the Warriors line-up for 226, in which only Colin Ackerman (68) and Yaseen Vallie (105) provided any resistance. Once Ackerman went at 139-3, Vallie was left watching a procession of lost causes as he battled through 233 balls, scoring 19 fours.
The target of 209 was never enough, despite the efforts of Sisanda Magal who removed Rilee Rossouw (43) and Pite van Biljon (0), hero of the first innings with 98.
Michael Erlank added 40 and Werner Coetsee (40) saw the Knights over the line.
The Knights are now just 1.78 points behind the Lions on the log.
Omphile Ramela led from the front with a captain’s innings to drag the Cobras out of danger and to a draw against the Dolphins in Durban on Sunday.
He had top-scored with an excellent 89 in the first innings, which, with little support, was not enough to save the follow-on. But he stepped up once against with a brilliant man-of-the-match knock of 107 in the second innings.
This time, he was well supported by a resilient middle order, with Justin Ontong contributing 74 in a stand of 144 for the third wicket; Dane Vilas adding 54 to a stand of 67 and Keegan Petersen holding the fort to the end with an unbeaten 53.
At 361-6, the Cobras then had a lead of 172 and the captains decided enough was enough.
It was Ramela’s seventh first-class hundred, coming off 299 balls (15×4).
As admirable as that is, the Cobras still have only only one win from five matches and the 5.2 points they garnered could not stop them slipping to fifth on the log, just above the Warriors.
In Potchefstroom the top-of-the-table clash between the Titans and the Lions was abandoned as a draw at lunch after heavy rain prevented any play in the day.
The Titans may be feeling the more relieved of the two, for they led by just 168 with two wickets in hand.
| Team | P | W | L | D | NR | Bat | Bwl | Pts |
| Titans | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | – | 18.60 | 20 | 68.60 |
| Lions | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | – | 16.06 | 17 | 63.06 |
| Knights | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | – | 12.28 | 19 | 61.28 |
| Dolphins | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 17.50 | 13 | 40.50 |
| Cobras | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | – | 11.01 | 17 | 38.10 |
| Warriors | 5 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 6.48 | 11 | 22.48 |
