Eagles tame Lions

Eagles 247 for 9 (Rudolph 40, Dippenaar 64, van der Wath 53, de Wet 5-59) beat Lions 235 for 8 (Ontong 45, McKenzie 69, Henderson 45) by 12 runs
Scorecard

The Eagles got their MTN campaign off to winning ways by edging a close contest at The Wanderers. The Lions put on a good batting performance, with a half-century for the captain Neil McKenzie, but some slow batting in periods cost them and they fell 12 runs short as the Eagles bowlers applied the squeeze.

Davey Jacobs (15) and Jacques Rudolph (40) got the Eagles' innings off to a fast and furious start with a flurry of boundaries and together they put the early loss of Loots Bosman, for a duck, behind them. Boeta Dippenaar led the innings with a solid and controlled 64 and Johan van der Wath provided some lower-order firepower with an explosive 53, before becoming one of Friedel de Wet's five victims, and Roger Telemachus biffed 28 from just 12 balls as Eagles closed on 247 for 9.

de Wet ended with an impressive 5 for 59 from his nine overs, his best bowling figures in limited overs games, beating his previous best of 3 for 56 against the Cobras. Indeed, the Lions pegged it back nicely for a period, Claude Henderson proving economical. The innings was well balanced with both sides having control at different stages.

The Lions lost two wickets as they stumbled in reply but Justin Ontong (45) and McKenzie (69) lifted them and their hopes with a third-wicket stand of 87. Henderson's rapid 45 from 24 further boosted them but the bowlers proved too tight, with Victory Mpitsang the pick; he took 3 for 43.