Alviro Petersen and Neil McKenzie scored half-centuries to drive home the Highveld Lions’ advantage in a rain-hit day against the Warriors at the Wanderers.
The Lions have already secured the Sunfoil title, but there was no letting up as they moved on to 197 for four, in reply to the Warriors’ dismal offering of 200.
Just 63 overs were possible on the opening day of the match, and the second day saw just 60.3 after an afternoon lightning storm held up play for several hours.
The Warriors resumed on 193 for eight, but Hardus Viljoen brought their innings to an abrupt close when he dismissed overnight batsmen Simon Harmer (36) and Sisanda Magala (14) in the third over of the day.
Although Stephen Cook was trapped lbw by Andrew Birch off the first ball of the reply, the Lions progressed to 121 for two, at which point Petersen (69) was caught behind off Magala (2 for 41) shortly after the lunch break, and four overs later the umpires pulled the players off the field because of the lightning threat.
That turned into a deluge and an early tea, and when the players finally emerged again Temba Bavuma was caught behind off the bowling of Basheeru-Deen Walters to leave the Lions 149 for four.
Titans v Knights, Centurion
David Wiese hit a brisk century and then grabbed a couple of wickets as the Titans took control in a match which could see them end second on the log. With the Dolphins struggling against the Cobras, a victory here could go a long way to restoring their pride.
Wiese’s 107 in just 129 balls helped the Titans progress from their overnight total of 274 for four to 452 for nine declared, before the all-rounder nipped out both Knights openers.
With Ethy Mbhalati and Marchant de Lange backing him up, the Knights limped to stumps on 85 for four, still trailing by 367 runs.
Earlier, Henry Davids completed his’ first century in three seasons.
Davids began the day on 86 and moved on to 122. He was finally dismissed by Quinton Friend, by which stage Wiese was already going strong. As the 29-year-old continued to lose partners his scoring became brisker until he was finally caught behind off the bowling of Shadley van Schalkwyk.
Dolphins v Cobras, Pietermaritzburg
The Cobras are on their way to the complete performance when they reduced the Dolphins to 204-7 in reply to the first-innings target of 597.
Beuran Hendricks and Dane Paterson shared seven wickets to leave the Dolphins floundering after two days at the City Oval.
Only Khaya Zondo resisted the onslaught, hammering 90 runs off 100 balls as wickets fell regularly around him. At the close, he was with Keshav Maharaj, who had 28 off 22 balls.
Earlier, Justin Kemp hammered 143 at almost a run a ball, which carried the Cobras to 597 all out – their highest total in first-class competition.
Scoreboards:
