Verreynne, Fortuin mark the return of 4-day cricket with brilliant tons

BOLAND v WESTERN PROVINCE

Kyle Verreynne scored a masterful century to lead WSB Western Province to 401-5 at stumps on the first day of their CSA 4-Day Series match against Goldrush Boland at Boland Park on Sunday.

Western Province, who won the toss and chose to bat first, had Verreynne (136*) and Kyle Simmonds (85) at the crease at stumps.

Verreynne, who arrived at the crease in 20th over, adapted to the ebbs and flows of the match as he compiled a careful 136 from 218 balls. This is his 16th first-class century and he faced 115 deliveries to reach the milestone.

The Proteas star was part of two major partnerships for the visitors. First, he shared an impressive 127-run fifth-wicket partnership with Valentine Kitime (63), and then followed it up with an unbroken 162-run sixth-wicket stand with Kyle Simmonds.

Simmonds and Kitime were part of a quartet of Western Province batters who recorded half-centuries.

The other two were Daniel Smith (58) and David Bedingham (50).

Smith and Bedingham breathed new life into the Western Province innings with a 94-run third-wicket partnership after the visitors had had a tough start. They were on 10-2 after 4.4 overs when they joined forces.

Shaun von Berg was Boland’s top bowler with two wickets for 106 runs in 30 overs. Glenton Stuurman, Keith Dudgeon, and Imran Manack took a wicket each for the hosts.

WARRIORS v LIONS

Bjorn Fortuin launched a lower-order fightback and scored a sensational century to drive the DP World Lions to 297-8 at stumps in their contest against the Dafabet Warriors at St George’s Park in Gqeberha/

The Lions, who won the toss and chose to bat first, had Fortuin (107*) and Lutho Sipamla (22*) at the crease at the close of play.

The Lions were floundering on 95-5 when Fortuin arrived at the crease. The spinner resuscitated the visitors’ innings with a brilliant 168-ball 107.

This is the 31-year-old’s eighth first-class century and he faced 159 balls to reach the milestone.

Fortuin gave the visitors their first substantial partnership with a 70-run seventh-wicket stand with Delano Potgieter, which he followed up with a 71-run eight-wicket partnership with Codi Yusuf (26).

After that, he farmed the strike during his unbroken 61-run ninth-wicket stand with Sipamla.

Matthew Boast, the 4-Day Series’ leading wicket-taker, was the Warriors’ most successful bowler with three wickets for 84 in 20 overs.

Duanne Olivier and Wesley Bedja chipped in with a brace of wickets each, while Kerwin Mungroo took a single wicket.

TUSKERS v TITANS

Malcolm Nofal’s patient half-century powered the Moothee Ram Tuskers to 240-5 at stumps when they faced the Momentum Multiply Titans at Pietermaritzburg Oval.

The Tuskers, who won the toss and chose to bat first, had Sean Gilson (48*) and Matthew Urquhart (22*) at the crease at the close of play.

Nofal scored 92 runs from 198 balls as he anchored the Tuskers’ innings through the first 70 overs.

This is the opener’s 10th first-class half-century. The left-hander shared the crease with five different batters during the course of his innings.

His major partnerships were a promising 70-run opening stand with Ben Compton (28) and a 57-run fifth-wicket partnership with Gilson.

After Nofal’s dismissal, Gilson kept the hosts on track with an unbroken 41-run sixth-wicket partnership with Urquhart.

Duan Jansen was the pick of the bowlers for the Titans with two wickets for 43 runs in 15 overs. Janco Smit, Dayyaan Galiem and Tsepo Ndwandwa finished with a wicket each.

DRAGONS v DOLPHINS

The Eastvaal Renault Dragons and the Hollywoodbets Dolphins lost a second day of play to a wet outfield in Potchefstroom:

The match officials carried out inspections at the JB Marks Oval throughout the day but deemed it too damp to play on. They will assess the ground’s suitability again on Monday morning.

The Dragons are sitting in second place with three wins in five outing and will be hoping to record their fourth win of the season to consolidate their position at the top of the table. 

A win will put them in a strong position to compete for a spot in the final.

The hosts suffered an emphatic defeat at the hands of the Dafabet Warriors in their last outing in December last year.

They lost by an innings and 142 runs at home. Their batters failed to get going with only Wihan Lubbe (35) and Meeka-eel Prince (31) getting past the 30-run mark.

The Dragons will be hoping to bounce back from that loss with a win.

The Dolphins, on the other hand, are sitting in fifth position with two wins, two draws, and a single loss in their campaign.

A win will move the KwaZulu-Natal side a couple rungs up the ladder and into a strong position for a top three finish.

The Dolphins suffered a bruising nine-wicket loss to the Titans at SuperSport Park in their last outing, which was also in December last year.

 The visitors will be hoping that their batters can tap into the form that helped them record two wins and help them secure victory over the Dragons.