Highveld Lions v Warriors

Some seriously dumb cricket by the Highveld Lions while they were batting led to a comprehensive six-wicket defeat, with 13 overs to spare, in the opening Momentum One-Day Cup match at the Wanderers on Wednesday evening.

The Lions, who were sent in to bat, suffered two run outs, Stephen Cook (41) getting his bat jammed in the ground and Aaron Phangiso (1) dawdling his way back into the crease, on their way to being dismissed for a paltry 209, in the 40^th over.

The most galling part of their display with the bat was the way they left Dwaine Pretorius stranded on a defiant 77 not out off 62 balls.

The international all-rounder regained his batting form with his first half-century of the summer and, at 203 for six in the 38^th over, he was well set to take the Lions to somewhere nearing 300, which would have been a competitive total on an excellent pitch that kept everyone in the game, spinners included.

Having already added 40 off 34 balls for the seventh wicket with Bjorn Fortuin (6), all Pretorius needed was for the lower-order to bat sensibly, stick around and take singles.

But Fortuin, a very capable batsman, tried to swipe debutant seamer Clayton Bosch down the ground, instead looping a simple catch to cover. Pretorius was then only able to add five more runs to his score as the Lions folded in a heap, losing their last four wickets for six runs.

The slippery Sisanda Magala led the Warriors attack with an impressive three for 28 in eight accurate overs.

Pretorius then took a wicket with his first ball, 19-year-old debutant Matthew Breetzke (5) adding to the silly dismissals by trying to uppercut a short ball and being caught at third man, and, with Hardus Viljoen roaring in and taking three wickets for 15 runs in his first three overs, the Lions bowlers made a decent fist of defending their inadequate total.

But captain Jon-Jon Smuts and Christiaan Jonker, who came together with the Warriors on 79 for four in the 16^th over, banished all thoughts of a Lions win with an excellent record stand of 131 unbeaten off 132 balls. It was the team’s best ever fifth-wicket partnership, improving on the unbeaten 111 Jacques Kallis and Davey Jacobs shared against the Cape Cobras in Paarl in 2009/10.

Having disappointed in the RamSlam T20 Challenge, matters have headed even further south for the Lions as they conceded a bonus point to the Warriors, who eased to victory after 37 overs. Smuts finished with an extremely well-paced, run-a-ball 70 not out, while Jonker batted sensibly as well to finish on 55 not out off 60 deliveries.

//