Ontong blitz keeps Cobras unbeaten

Cape Cobras 337 for 3 (Puttick 94, van Zyl 91*, Ontong 83) beat Lions 284 for 7 (Pretorius 77*, Cook 58, Peterson 2-30) by 53 runs
Scorecard

A hammering of 83 off 37 balls from Justin Ontong and fifties from Andrew Puttick and Stiaan van Zyl charged the unbeaten Cape Cobras to a 53-run win against Lions in Paarl. Cobras amassed 337 for 3 and the Lions middle order collapsed in the chase despite a strong start.

Put in to bat, Cobras were given two solid stands from Puttick - first of 101 for the first wicket with Omphile Ramela and then of 82 with van Zyl. Puttick was given six lives for his knock of 94 and when he was finally dismissed in the 39th over, the score was 183 for 2. The third-wicket stand between Van Zyl and Ontong gave them the final throttle to go past 300. Van Zyl struck 10 fours and a six during his unbeaten 91 off 74, and Ontong clobbered four fours and seven sixes before falling in the last over. From the 41st over to the last, the duo struck at least a four in every over and scored 137 runs in the last 10.

Lions got a strong opening partnership of 97 from Stephen Cook and Alviro Petersen, but both fell within five overs. The middle order got a double-blow from Sybrand Engelbrecht, who finished with 2 for 55, and Robin Peterson stifled the innings further with his figures of 2 for 30, reducing Lions to 162 for 6 after 32 overs. Dwaine Pretorius and Hardus Viljoen revived the innings with a stand of 121 to steer them past 250 and denied Cobras a bonus point. With the help of an unbeaten 77 from Pretorius and 52 from Viljoen, Lions scored 284 for 7.

Warriors 275 for 6 (Smuts 94, Price 70, Alexander 3-54) beat Dolphins 274 for 8 (van Jaarsveld 118, Chetty 50, Birch 3-31) by 4 wickets
Scorecard

An unbeaten 16-ball 30 from Christiaan Jonker gave Warriors their first points of the tournament despite losing two wickets in the penultimate over of their chase against Dolphins in Pietermaritzburg. A knock of 118 off 99 from Vaughn van Jaarsveld helped Dolphins put on a competitive 274 for 8, but Warriors chased it down on the back of fifties from JJ Smuts and Michael Price, with three balls to spare.

Warriors needed 29 runs in the last three overs and with two fours and six, Jonker brought it down to 10 off 12. They lost two wickets in the next over to Craig Alexander, but scored six off the first three balls of the last over to register a four-wicket win.

Dolphins, who were put in to bat, lost their openers early before Cody Chetty and van Jaarsveld put on 100 for the third wicket. Van Jaarsveld was running out of partners towards the end but his century, with eight fours and five sixes, and a useful 21-ball 42 from Robbie Frylink charged them to 274. Andrew Birch bowled an economical spell of 3 for 31 and Basheeru-Deen Walters bowled two maidens in his 2 for 55.

Warriors were given a robust opening stand of 127 by Price and Smuts. Price was dismissed for 70 and Smuts fell short of his hundred by six runs, and cameos from Colin Ingram and Ryan Bailey kept them in the hunt. They needed 44 from five overs and Jonker held his nerve in the end to take them home, and to fourth place in the points table.