It took Border just over two days to inflict a heavy defeat on KwaZulu-Natal, on a Kingsmead pitch which produced 32 wickets in 242 overs. After taking a lead of 58 on the first innings, Boland bowled Natal out for 185 in their second innings with Doug Watson again top scoring with 50. Tyron Henderson took his match haul to eight, with 4 for 54, leaving his team a target of 128. Three forties from Border's top three sealed the victory - one that was particularly sweet for Mark Bruyns and Craig Sugden, who were discarded by Natal a few seasons back.
The GoodYear Park faithful witnessed a complete reversal of fortunes as Western Province came from behind to register an eight-wicket win against Free State. A first-innings lead of 120 was turned into disaster as Free State collapsed to 78 all out in their second attempt. Earlier Western Province had come back from the dead at 69 for 7, to claw their way to 202 all out. Thami Tsolekile (56) and Claude Henderson (42) were chiefly responsible for the recovery. The target of 199 was reached for the loss of two
wickets.
Griqualand West are set to finish at the bottom of the Super
Sixes, while North West have a remarkable outside chance of climbing into third spot. Batting for the second time, North West will take a 335-run lead into the last day thanks to a career best 136 from Grant Rowley.
Shield - day two and three
Brent Kops produced career-best figures of 5 for 36 as
Northerns, leading the Shield Series, were bundled out for 128. A captain's innings of 67 from Gerald Dros saved Northerns from total embarrassment, as they bounced back from 17 for 4. In turn Pierre Joubert improved on his career-best 6 for 28 in the first innings to record another six wicket haul, this time for 19 runs, as Eastern Province set a target of 264. Joubert's match analysis was an incredible 47.3-31-47-12. At the close Northerns were 170 for 7
with Johan Botha taking 4 for 29.
After rattling along to a massive 563 for 9 dec at Willowmoore
Park, Easterns forced Boland to follow on after bowling them out for 364. Daryll Cullinan and Geoffrey Toyana, both scoring in the seventies, pushed Easterns into the 500s while Justin Ontong, taking 4 for 150, wrapped up the tail before the declaration came. Boland fought back hard with five fifties from Henry Davids, Gerhard Strydom, Ontong, Willem Smit and Wesley Euley. But none of them converted the hard work into three figures, and Boland were in trouble at 126 for 4 at the close.