Lubbe, Kleinveldt, Ngoepe half-centuries help Dragons pass 300 against Lions

Half-centuries from the bats of Wihan Lubbe, Matthew Kleinveldt and Lesiba Ngoepe helped the North West Dragons amass a solid 310 for six batting first in their CSA One-Day Cup encounter against the DP World Lions at DP World Wanderers in Johannesburg on Sunday.

After winning the toss and choosing to bat, most of the Dragons' top and middle order made decent contributions, with Lubbe, 80 off 64 balls (4x4; 5x6) top scoring, while he shared in two strong half-century partnerships with Kleinveldt and Ngoepe.

Kleinveldt was eventually out for 64 off 61 (7x4; 1x6), while Ngoepe was unbeaten at the close on 53 off 39 (4x4; 2x6), with the innings cut short by a rain delay with just four deliveries remaining, so a DLS adjusted target will be set for the hosts to chase.

At the start of the innings, openers Rubin Hermann (47) and Janneman Malan (33) got the Dragons off to a steady start as they combined for a 59-run opening stand.

The spinners then stepped in to make the breakthrough as first captain Bjorn Fortuin had Malan caught behind by wicketkeeper Wandile Makwetu, and then Nqaba Peter bowled Raynard van Tonder (4), with the Dragons slipping to 74/2 after 17 overs.

Hermann and Kleinveld steadied the ship with a 47-run third wicket partnership, but having taken their side past the hundred-run mark, and just short of his fifty, Hermann was bowled by Reeza Hendricks, leaving them on 121 for three.

That brought Lubbe in and, along with Kleinveld, they set up a good platform with an 85-run partnership that took the Dragons past 200 runs before Kleinveldt found the safe hands of Fortuin off the bowling of Codi Yusuf in the 37th over with the score 206 for four.

Lubbe was, however, undeterred and along with his captain Ngoepe, they continued on their merry way, adding another 75 to the total.

With a century in sight and over four overs left in the innings, Lubbe skied Peter to Yusuf at deep backward square leg, leaving them on 281 for five.

In the closing overs, Peter trapped Ruan de Swardt (3) LBW to finish as the pick of the bowlers with 3-73 from his 10 overs, while Ngoepe struck a few lusty blows to get his side over 300 and himself to a well-played half-century.

DP WORLD LIONS: Makwetu (wk), Muhammad Manack, Reeza Hendricks, Zubayr Hamza, Mitchell van Buuren, Connor Esterhuizen, Delano Potgieter, Bjorn Fortuin (capt), Nqaba Peter, Codi Yusuf, Tshepo Moreki

NORTH WEST DRAGONS:  Janneman Malan (wk), Matthew Kleinveldt, Raynard van Tonder, Rubin Hermann, Wihan Lubbe (capt), Lesiba Ngoepe, Ruan de Swardt, Bamanye Xenxe, Caleb Seleka, Kerwin Mungroo, Lutendo Tsanwani .