North West Dragons fast bowler, Eldred Hawken (6/46) put in a superb shift of death bowling as the Gbets Boland Rocks were restricted to 251/8 in the first innings of their CSA One Day Cup match at the JB Marks Oval this afternoon (Friday, 25 March).
The Rocks looked on course for a big score cruising on 200/2 before a superb run-out completely shifted the momentum to the Dragons side.
It was a superb 173-run stand for the third wicket between Gbets Boland Rocks experienced pair of Pieter Malan (98) and Stiaan van Zyl (114* 141 balls) that formed the foundation of the Rocks score.
The duo batted beautifully as they kept the scoreboard ticking, despite some decent economical bowling from the Dragons. Earlier, the Rocks were in trouble at 27/2 after losing the dangerous Janneman Malan for 7 and Ruan Terblanche for only 2.
Malan almost got his century but was run out by a superb direct hit from the long on boundary. This gave the Dragons a way into the match as the new batsman struggled to find the same consistency.
Van Zyl though kept going and carried hit bat with his 114*. Hawken was also superb with his yorkers at the death picking up five sticks in his second spell. Duan Jansen (1/43) was also economical with his left arm pace. The Dragons require 252 for victory in front of a passionate and vocal home crowd under lights.
