Lions still in striking distance

bizhub Highveld Lions are still within striking distance after winning one and losing one match at the start of the momentum One Day Cup. The local team is third on the log, with Nashua Cap Cobras leading the teams.

On Friday October 17 at Bidvest Wanderers Stadium, Lonwabo Tsotsobe and Eddie Leie claimed three wickets apiece as the bizhub Highveld Lions bowled The Unlimited Titans out to record a 38-run victory in the Momentum One-Day Cup.

Chasing a target of 261 at Bidvest Wanderers, the Titans were gradually picked off by the Lions bowlers so that they were ultimately dismissed for 222 in the 46th over.

While Tsotsobe’s double strike up front ensured that the Titans were always on the back foot, Leie picked up three wickets in four overs to take care of the middle order.

David Wiese drew things out with a run-a-ball 77 on his return from injury, but by that stage he was largely fighting a losing battle.

Tsotsobe finished with the excellent figures of 3/29 and appears to be on a serious mission to ensure a comeback to the Proteas side, bowling with pace and accuracy, while Leie took 3/54. It was Tsotsobe’s second Man of the Match award.

The Lions innings was built on a solid opening partnership of 106 between Stephen Cook and Alviro Petersen that rattled along at five to the over until Cook was bowled by Marchant de Lange for 55.

Petersen went on to score 76 from 97 deliveries, while Neil McKenzie added 36, before he was run out by some swift fielding by Rowan Richards off his own bowling.

At that stage the Lions were 211 for four with just six overs to go, but Jean Symes (41) and Dwaine Pretorius provided the late hitting required to secure a competitive total.

De Lange took three late wickets to finish with figures of 4/57in 10 overs, but it was the combined strike power of the Lions bowlers that had the final say on the outcome.

On Sunday October 19 at Boland Park a batting performance from the Nashua Cape Cobras saw them continue their winning start to the Momentum One-Day Cup as they beat the bizhub Highveld Lions by 53 runs at Boland Park on Sunday.

With Andrew Puttick riding his luck on his way to 94, Stiaan van Zyl striking a well-paced 91 not out, and Man of the Match Justin Ontong providing the hammer blow with 83 from 38 balls, the Cobras amassed 337 for three after being put in to bat.

The Lions also registered three half-centuries but none were as devastating, as they finished up on 284 for seven.

The visitors were somewhat complicit in the Cobras’ heavy scoring, offering Puttick no fewer than six lives during his 111-ball innings.

Puttick put on 101 for the first wicket with Omphile Ramela, who made 40, and then 82 with Van Zyl.

However, it was the final partnership that really did for the Lions, as Van Zyl and Ontong added 154 from 75 balls, before Ontong was out to the last ball of the innings.

As a result the Cobras set a new ground record as they surpassed the 316 for seven that they scored against the Titans two seasons ago.

Although the Lions made an aggressive start to their reply, with openers Stephen Cook (58) and Alviro Petersen (49) putting on 97 in the first 15 overs, the middle order was undone by spinners Sybrand Engelbrecht and Robin Peterson.

Peterson took 2/30 and Engelbrecht 2/55 as the Lions fell from 97 without loss to 138 for five, and only a century stand for the seventh wicket between Dwaine Pretorius and Hardus Viljoen denied the Cobras another bonus point.

The pair never threatened to overhaul the target, but did an excellent job of damage limitation as Pretorius finished unbeaten on 77 and Viljoen got out to the penultimate ball of the game, having just recorded his second List A fifty.

The result means that the Cobras are top of the table with 14 points from three games, while the Dolphins and Lions are both four points back having played an extra game.