Day 2 WRAP: Kaplan and Van Heerden cash in with the bat

Joshua van Heerden made his mark with a sensational century to lead WSB Western Province to 299-3 at the close of play in their CSA 4-Day Series encounter against Eastvaal Renault Dragons at Newlands on Wednesday.

Western Province won the toss, elected to bowl first and bowled the Dragons out for 284.

The hosts lead the Dragons by 15 runs with seven wickets in hand. They had Daniel Smith (65*) and Valentine Kitime (8*) at the crease.

Van Heerden led the way with 139 from 234 balls in an innings that featured 21 fours and a single six.

The opener shared a monumental 198-run opening partnership with Jiveshan Pillay to give the hosts a sturdy foundation.

Pillay showed patience and application as he worked his way to 74 from 168 deliveries.

The hosts stumbled when they Pillay and Juan James in three overs; however, Van Heerden and Smith recalibrated and mounted an 80-run third-wicket stand that put Western Province in the lead.

Smith closed the day with an unbeaten breezy 65 from 64 balls.

The Dragon’s trio of allrounders, Wihan Lubbe, Ruan de Swardt and Dian Forrester, took a wicket each on day two.

Durban: Daryn Dupavillon registered his 11th first-class five-wicket haul as he helped the Moothee Ram Tuskers bowl the Hollywoodbets Dolphins out for 400, before Malcolm Nofal scored an unbeaten half-century to steer the visitors to 164-1 at stumps at Kingsmead.

 The Tuskers trail the Dolphins by 236 runs with nine wickets in hand. They had Nofal (66*) and Mohammad Bulbulia (27*) at the crease.

Dupavillon picked up from where he left off on day one and added three more scalps on his way to six wickets for 44 runs in 21.5 overs.

Among his dismissals was the important wicket of Eathan Bosch, who contributed crucial lower-order runs with an excellent 80 from 106 deliveries.

Malcolm Nofal and Kagiso Rapulana gave the visitors a solid start in their reply with a 114-run opening stand.

Rapulana showed good defence on his way to an outstanding 61 from 107 balls. The opener was dismissed after hitting his wicket, seconds after dealing with a fairly innocuous delivery from Aryan Gopalan.

Gopalan was the sole wicket-taker for the Dolphins. He ended the day with a single wicket for 38 runs in 13 overs.

Gqeberha: Gavin Kaplan and Lehan Botha produced brilliant performances to put Goldrush Boland in control of their encounter against the Dafabet Warriors at St George’s Park.

Botha’s trio of wickets helped the visitors restrict the Warriors to 118-5 at stumps.

The Warriors, who had Jordan Hermann (69*) and Patrick Kruger (6*) at the crease at the close of play, trail Boland by a single run with five wickets in hand.

The hosts collapsed for 157 in the first innings, before Gavin Kaplan registered an imperious century to lead Boland to 257 in their reply.

Kaplan was the mainstay for Boland’s reply with an unmatched 110 from 191 balls.

The No 3 batter creamed 12 fours on his way to his fifth first-class century. He shared a brilliant 173-run third-wicket partnership with Aviwe Mgijima, who played a stellar supporting role to Kaplan.

Mgijima accumulated a patient 92 from 236 deliveries.

Botha, who ended the day with three wickets for 18 runs in eight overs, ensured that the Warriors lost wickets at regular intervals and were behind the game at all times.

Pretoria: Dominic Hendricks (79) and Joshua Richards (54) notched half-centuries as the DP World Lions fought their way to 269-6 in their reply to the Momentum Multiply Titans’ first innings total of 368 at SuperSport Park.

The Lions, who had Delano Potgieter (41*) and Bjorn Fortuin (38*) at the crease at stumps, trail the Titans by 99 runs with four wickets in hand.

Hendricks and Richards combined for an 85-run opening partnership that put the Lions in a strong position.

Hendricks top-scored for the Lions with a 165-ball 79 that featured 13 fours, while Richards struck eight fours and a single six for his 54 from 56 deliveries.

The Lions failed to capitalise on the start by their opening pair thanks to Junior Dala, who caused a top order collapse.

He saw to it that the Lions lost Richards, Reeza Hendricks and Mitchell van Buuren for nine runs in 2.2 overs.

Dala ended the day with three wickets for 51 runs in 13 overs.