Seamers Tian Koekemoer, Basheer Walters and Andrew Birch claimed two wickets each as the Warriors made a strong start to their 4-Day Domestic Series encounter with the Cape Cobras in East London on Monday.
Only one of the visiting batsmen managed to cross 40, with the men from the Mother City limping to an early stumps on 241-8 at Buffalo Park.
Bad light meant that the full quota of overs was not possible with just 79 overs sent down and that was more than enough for the home side to take control of the contest.
This was after winning the toss and opting to bowl first in a match where they were again without regular captain Jon-Jon Smuts and Sisanda Magala due to national duty.
However, unlike last week where they made a poor start to the game against the Knights, which proved detrimental in defeat, they were much better out of the blocks.
Birch (2-46) struck twice in the first session to leave the visitors on 69-3.
One of his wickets was top-scorer David Bedingham (41), with Walters (2-43) also keeping things tight from the other end.
Koekemoer (2-43) then got into the action after lunch when he dismissed Kyle Verreynne (34) and George Linde (23) – the Cobras slipping to 158-6.
Bowlers Lizaad Williams (35) and Nandre Burger (18) did go some way towards bringing respectability to the scorecard with a 58-run ninth-wicket stand, but the day still belonged to the Warriors.
Photo: Gallo Images
