A gripping day of cricket saw the Warriors come within 37 runs of the Cobras’ huge asking total, with Cobras skipper Dane Piedt snapping up eight second-innings wickets to help the Cobras seal victory with 3.2 overs to spare, writes SIMON LEWIS.

Warriors vs Cape Cobras

The Warriors put up a great fight trying to reach the stiff target of 418 runs set by the Cobras, Gihahn Cloete leading the charge with his ninth first-class century, backed by three batters scoring in the 40s and two in the 30s. Cobras skipper Dane Piedt led from the front with the ball, taking his 19th five-for in first-class cricket and only his second 10-wicket haul, after securing figures of 3-56 in the Warriors’ first innings.   

Piedt ended with innings figures of 8-130, his best figures in first-class cricket as the Warriors were bowled out for a spirited 380. Piedt sent down 50.4 overs, including 16 maiden overs, in his match-winning spell of bowling. Janneman Malan was named Player of the Match for his innings of 67 and 168.

PIEDT’S 8 WICKETS IN WARRIORS SECOND INNINGS

EM Moore		b Piedt	32
GL Cloete		b Piedt	108
JT Smuts	c Zubayr Hamza	b Piedt	44
S Qeshile	c Paterson	b Piedt	34
C Fortuin	c Paterson	b Piedt	20
SR Harmer	lbw	b Piedt	17
BD Walters	c sub (GF Linde)	b Piedt	0
L Sipamla	lbw	b Piedt	3

Cape Cobras 266 (PJ Malan 72, JN Malan 67, SM Khomari 45, D Paterson 41; SSB Magala 3-66, BD Walters 2-32, L Sipamla 2-46) & 403-3 decl (JN Malan 168, Zubayr Hamza 74 not out, PJ Malan 61, HM Amla 61, K Verreynne 35 not out; BD Walters 1-66, L Sipamla 1-75, SR Harmer 1-128)
Warriors 252 (EM Moore 75, JT Smuts 63, S Qeshile 41; M Nabe 3-43, DL Piedt 3-56) & 290-4 (GL Cloete 108, EM Moore 32, MY Vallie 46, JT Smuts 44, CN Ackermann 43, S Qeshile 34, EM Moore 32; DL Piedt 8-130, D Paterson 2-107)
Cape Cobras won by 37 runs

Scorecard

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Brilliant catch and run out by Zubayr Hamza against the Warriors Cape Cobras star batter Zubayr Hamza is on the brink of becoming the 100th player to earn a Proteas Test cap when South Africa play Pakistan at Centurion on Boxing Day … and in the last first-class match before the Test he proved his class in the field. Hamza first took an incredible catch at first clip to remove Warriors skipper JJ Smuts for 63 off the bowling of Dane Piedt … followed by quick thinking from the same position at first slip to dash into the covers to field a quick single and send throw in for Dane Piedt to complete the run out of Lutho Sipamla to end the Warriors first innings on 252. Hamza would have been disappointed to get out for a six-ball duck in the first match after the Mzansi Super League (which he was not picked up by any of the franchises this year), but his good effort in the field would have boosted his confidence for the second knock. As is happened, the Cape Cobras scored an imposing 403-3 before declaring, with Hamza on 74 not out off 95 balls, having hit 10 fours and a six. footage: Cricket South Africa @cricket_south_africa @zubyhamza @danepiedt63 @cobrascricket #cricket #danepiedt #zubayrhamza #proteas #cricketsouthafrica #pakistan #castlelager #castlelagertestseries #proteasvspakistan

A post shared by SA Cricket magazine (@sacricketmagazine) on Dec 21, 2018 at 10:31pm PST

Knights vs Titans

The Titans picked up the last six Knights wickets for a valuable 65-run win. Chris Morris was the pick of the bowlers, returning 3-55, while Itumaleng Moseki (2-38) and Tabraiz Shamsi (2-40) each picked up two wickets, Shamsi finishing with match figures of 7-123. Jonathan Vandiar picked up the Player of the Match award for his second innings 102 that lifted the Knights’ target to 315.

Titans 303 (F du Plessis 84, H Klaasen 63, F Behardien 53, D Elgar 37; Olivier 4-23, SC van Schalkwyk 3-72, T Ntuli 2-71) & 242 (JD Vandiar 102, H Klaasen 40, D Elgar 25, CH Morris 20; SC van Schalkwyk 5-80, D Olivier 3-31, T Ntuli 1-15, R McLaren 1-51)
Knights 231 (TG Mokoena 58, KD Petersen 30; T Shamsi 5-83, I Moseki 2-34) & 249 (AGS Gous 68, TG Mokoena 45, R McLaren 32, RS Second 31, AR Swanepoel 28; CH Morris 3-55, I Moseki 2-38, T Shamsi 2-40)
Titans won by 65 runs

Scorecard

Lions vs Dolphins 

Dolphins 303 (K Zondo 114, C Chetty 65, AL Phehlukwayo 57, KA Maharaj 23; D Pretorius 6-38, BE Hendricks 2-52, Z Pongolo 1-67, AM Phangiso 1-71) & 119-5 (VB van Jaarsveld 33, SJ Erwee 31, K Zondo 28, G Roelofsen 26, KJ Dudgeon 26 not out, E Bosch 24; D Pretorius 4-37, CJ Alexander 2-38, AM Phangiso 2-50, BE Hendricks 2-71)
Lions 134 (WJ Lubbe 36, CJ Alexander 20 not out; K Mungroo 3-35, KJ Dudgeon 3-40) & 106 (HE van der Dussen 37, Z Pongolo 19, AM Phangiso 17; E Bosch 4-35, KA Maharaj 2-2, K Mungroo 2-16, KJ Dudgeon 2-32)
Dolphins won by 279 runs

Scorecard

Photo: Cricket South Africa