Rickelton, Olivier star as Lions down Dragons at Wanderers

A formidable four-strong Central Gauteng Lions pace attack produced another top-class performance on Sunday as they wrapped up victory by an innings and 72 runs over the North-West Dragons in their CSA Four-Day Domestic Series match at the Wanderers.

Despite a pugnacious 70 not out by captain Nicky van den Bergh, North-West were bowled out for 177 in their second innings. A commanding innings of 159 by Ryan Rickelton had set up a Lions total of 408 after they had dismissed the Dragons for just 159 on the first day.

Duanne Olivier completed a fine return to South African domestic cricket with 3/58 on Sunday, giving him seven wickets in the match, but the chief destroyer in the North-West second innings was Malusi Siboto, who returned outstanding figures of 4/21 in 10.4 overs.

In Centurion

At Centurion, left-arm paceman Marco Jansen showed that he is mature way beyond his years as he produced a brilliant counter-attacking innings with the bat that ensured the Eastern Province Warriors still have a chance of pulling off a thrilling win over the Northerns Titans.

Jansen came in with EP, chasing 236 for victory, on 91/6, and struck a fabulous 55 off 59 balls.

Together with Lesiba Ngoepe (46*) they lifted EP to 180/7 when Jansen was bowled by left-arm spinner Neil Brand in the final over of the day with a superb arm-ball.

Junior Dala had ripped through the EP middle-order earlier with two quickfire wickets to put them on the back foot.

But the fact that the Warriors were chasing as much as 236 was thanks to a Northerns innings that just got better and better as it progressed.

Sibonelo Makhanya (74) and Jordan Hermann (62) extended their fifth-wicket partnership to 141 and then Dayyaan Galiem ensured the momentum continued with his 47 off 56 balls.

Corbin Bosch took over from Galiem when he was ninth man out as stroked a confident 40 not out and put on a crucial 43 for the last wicket with Dala, who played sensibly for 42 deliveries.

Mthiwekhaya Nabe was the best of the EP bowlers with 4/89 in 22 overs.

In Cape Town

At Newlands, Western Province are in trouble at 186/7 in their second innings against the KZN Dolphins, still trailing by 34 runs with only a couple of decent batsmen left.

Fast bowler Daryn Dupavillon has taken 4/33 including the wicket of top-scorer Yaseen Vallie, trapped lbw for 76.

Left-arm spinner Bryce Parsons, who took 5/82 in the first innings to bowl Western Province out for 269, enabling KXN to enforce the follow-on, dismissed key batsman David Bedingham for 50.

Wayne Parnell who top-scored with 79 not out in the Western Province first innings, sharing a face-saving 105-run partnership for the eighth wicket with Mihlali Mpongwana (40), is still at the crease of for the hosts.

In Bloemfontein

Janneman Malan, reinventing himself as a middle-order batsman, was the mainstay of the Boland Rocks innings as he scored a composed 139 not out to lead his team to 386 for seven against the Free State Knights in Bloemfontein.

That means the visitors are 66 runs ahead on first innings.

There was some solid top-order batting by Boland as Peiter Malan scored 44, Isma-eel Gafieldien 37 and Stiaan van Zyl 48, but Ferisco Adams, who is perpertually and stupidly under-rated as a cricketer, scored 74 not out as he and Janneman Malan put on an unbroken 156 for the eighth wicket.