Cape Cobras 154 and 330 (Van Zyl 106, Vilas 62, Olivier 3/44)
Knights 153 and 180 (Piedt 6/87, Simmonds 4/56)
Cobras won by 151 runs
PAARL – Cape Cobras captain Dane Piedt burst the race for the Sunfoil Series title wide open here at Boland Park on Saturday with a superb bowling performance.
The former Proteas Test off-spinner sent a timely reminder to the national selectors ahead of the touring squad being selected for New Zealand with a six-wicket haul that propelled the Cobras into serious challengers for the four-day crown with the final round of fixtures remaining.
When Piedt bowls as beautifully as he did on Saturday, it is easy to see why the 26-year-old earned the Man of the Match award on his Test debut in Harare only a couple of years ago.
The flight and control with which he bowled on Saturday was superb, while he remains arguably the most attacking spinner in the country through sheer body language and attitude.
Unlike most spinners in South Africa, Piedt is not afraid to deliver the ball wide outside the off-stump in attempt to lure batsmen into driving through the covers in order to bowl them through the gate.
However, the skipper would be the first to praise the contribution of debutant left-arm spinner Kyle Simmonds. The young Boland tweaker enjoyed an impressive first franchise outing at his home ground by adding figures of 4/56 to his three first-innings scalps.
All 10 Knights second-innings wickets fell to the spin of Piedt and Simmons.
“Kyle bowled amazingly well,” Piedt told Independent Media. “For a young player to come into the side and make such a big contribution on his debut was superb. I really enjoyed bowling in tandem with him.
“The conditions helped us, but we still needed to land the ball in the right areas, and knowing that the pressure was maintained at the other end allowed me to just do my job.”
Piedt was equally pleased with the way his batsmen, particularly the two Kolpak-bound players Stiaan van Zyl and Dane Vilas, took on the responsibility in the second innings to ensure the spinners had a healthy target to defend and could attack the Knights batsmen with fielders around the bat.
Van Zyl had earlier struck a classy 108, while Vilas contributed a valuable 62, which allowed the Cobras to set the Knights a target of 331. This was a particularly tall order after the visitors had been dismissed for just 153 in the first innings.
“We speak a lot about the senior players taking responsibility, and the way Stiaan and Dane stepped up was brilliant. Stiaan is such a classy player and Dane adds plenty of momentum towards the back-end of the innings. It really gave us a lot of confidence to know that there were runs on the board and it allowed me to set attacking fields,” Piedt added.
Although both teams will be keeping a close eye on the other fixtures around the country, the result at Boland Park has already had a major bearing on the Sunfoil Series table.
The Cobras now have 85.74 points after collecting their third victory within four matches, while the Knights’ (92.34) lead at the top has been trimmed significantly.
“I’ve said it before, and I am going to say it again, we are going to fight until the very end. It was always about taking it down to the very last game of the season and we’ve managed to do that to ensure we are still in with a chance,” Piedt said of the final game against the Dolphins at Kingsmead next week.
“The momentum is with us now, and we’re heading to Durban full of confidence.”