Warriors 165 and 273 (Bruyns 123, Steyn 4-66, Mbhalati 4-70) lead Titans 353 and 17/0 by 68 runs.Scorecard In East London, Mark Bruyns fought a lone battle with 123 for the
Warriors as the Titans threatened to finish the game inside three
days. With batsmen losing wickets at vital periods of the game, it was
left to Bruyns to hold the Titans up for five-and-a-half hours.
Mark Boucher and Pieter Strydom looked promising, but both fell
in the thirties and the Titans were left with an easy target of 86 runs. At
close they had reached 17 without loss, and they should finish it off before
lunch on day four.
It was the pace attack of Dale Steyn and Ethy Mbhalati, with four wickets
each, and Albie Morkel, with two, that set the Titans up for the win. The
Warriors, being bowled out for 273, offered little in defence as Steyn
ended with nine wickets in the match.
Western Province Boland 206 and 205 for 5 (Kallis 68) lead Eagles 315
(Dippenaar 121, Boje 57, Willoughby 5-91, de Lange 3-68) by 96 runs.Scorecard
In Cape Town, Boeta Dippenaar and Nicky Boje put on 118 runs as the
Eagles took a first innings lead of 109 over Western Province Boland. A
magnificent 121 from Dippenaar all but pencilled his name into the squad
for India while Boje, another candidate for India, waded in with 57.
Charl Willoughby, taking 5 for 91 and Con de Lange, taking 3 for 68, made
sure that the lead did not get out of hand.
In their second innings, WPBOL fared far better by scoring 205 for 5 at
the close with Jacques Kallis in classic form as he struck 50 runs in
boundaries out of a total of 68. An interesting day awaits the Newlands
faithful with the scales still tilted in the Eagles' direction.
Lions 361 for 8 dec lead Dolphins 239 for 3 (Khan 69, Watson 92) by 122 runs.Scorecard It is hard to believe that either the Lions or the Dolphins had any
other intention than to play for a draw in this top-of-the-table clash.
The weather did not play its part either with only 77, 70 and 86 overs
being bowled in the three days.
Mercifully the Lions declared their innings closed at the overnight
total of 361 for 8. The start of day three saw the Dolphins get off to a flyer, as Imraan Khan and Doug Watson put on 140 for
the first wicket. Khan was first to go for 69, followed by Watson,
brilliantly run out by McKenzie for 92.
A further 48 from Ahmed Amla
left the Dolphins on 239 for 3 when once again play ended early. Day
four, bar a miracle, will also see an early finish as this match is
destined to peter out in to a dull draw.