Aiden Markram continued his rich vein of form by scoring a third-consecutive century as we wrap up Day 3 of the 4th Round of the 4-Day Franchise series, writes Abhai Sawkar.
Titans vs Cobras
A hat-trick of centuries for Aiden Markram spearheaded an excellent comeback for the Titans, who picked up a marginal lead after their first innings. Markram’s rich vein for form right now is boding well for the upcoming home series against Sri Lanka.
MARKRAM SENDS A MESSAGE TO TEST SELECTORS
Neil Brand impressed, too – top scoring with a splendid 115. He and Markram added 178 runs together. Sibonelo Makhanya scored a quick half-century, continuing to show his potential in his first season with his new team. Calvin Savage took 5 wickets, making sure the Titans’ lead would remain slim.
The Cobras’ second innings is underway, and it’s been a positive start so far with Jonathan Bird getting off to a flier. An exciting final day awaits us.
Cobras 411 + 33/0 in 9 overs
Titans 440 in 134.4 overs (Brand 115, Markram 113 – Savage 5/77)
Knights vs Dolphins
In a riveting low-scoring blockbuster, the Dolphins have defended their home turf with a clutch win.
Following Matthew Kleinveldt’s strong innings, the Dolphins fought back again with the ball. The star of the first innings, Daryn Dupavillon, took another 4 wickets, making it a personal-best match aggregate of 11/104 for this game. The middle-order collapse set up a small target of 76 for the Dolphins.
It was mostly a straightforward chase, but legspinner Shaun von Berg gave them a mild scare with a quick burst of three wickets. However, a steady 28* from Keegan Petersen and two powerful blows from Mangaliso Mosehle took them to a comfortable victory. The Dolphins are now topping the table of their group.
Knights 116 + 213 in 85.2 overs (M Kleinveldt 77 – Dupavillon 4/66)
Dolphins 253 + 78/5 in 20.2 overs (K Petersen 28* – von Berg 3/12)
Lions vs Warriors
The Lions are on the brink of scoring consecutive wins after another stellar outing with the bat and five crucial wickets in the Warriors’ second innings.
Undoubtedly, the pick of today’s game was Wiaan Mulder’s 109-ball unbeaten century, extending the lead well past 500. It didn’t end there, as he also took a wicket during the Warriors’ second innings.
Yaseen Vallie and Rudi Second fought hard with an 82-run stand, but the Lions bowlers regularly got wickets as and when the Warriors batsmen began to gain momentum. Second is still unbeaten but it will be a herculean task for the home team to bat out the full day tomorrow and conserve 5 wickets, in their quest for another 294 runs.
Lions 389 + 241/5 in 58.4 overs (Mulder 100* – M Jansen 2/22)
Warriors 118 + 219/5 in 69 overs (Vallie 85, Second 76* – Magala 2/54)
Photo: Samuel Shivambu/BackpagePix
