Bizhub Highveld Lions 152/5
Warriors 153/4
Warriors won by six wickets
A thunderous onslaught from the hard-hitting Christiaan Jonker turned what had looked like being a tense finish into a comfortable victory for the Warriors in the T20 Challenge at St George’s Park on Friday night.
Jonker finished unbeaten on 49 off just 18 balls hitting three fours and five sixes as the Warriors claimed their third victory in the competition with 13 balls to spare.
The match turned decisively in the 16th over bowled by teenager Wiaan Mulder with Jonker blasting three sixes in the over which had started with a no-ball for height and eventually finished with 27 runs conceded. Up until that stage the Lions had created sufficient pressure through spinners Eddie Leie and Aaron Phangiso and pushed the required rate up to 10 runs an over.
A double strike by Hardus Viljoen in the 13th over in which he removed David White and Colin Ackerman had seemingly swung the match in visiting side’s favour. But Jonker’s sensational striking in the 16th over changed all that.
Earlier the Lions had given themselves an excellent chance at winning with Mangaliso Mosehle once more underlining his value with an adventurous nock that gave his side’s innings some much needed impetus
Backing up his half-century against the Cobras in Potchefstroom last week Mosehle took what had been a limp showing initially and yanked the Lions to a defendable score timing the ball excellently after the top order had struggled early on.
Although the Lions started solidly with openers Rassie van der Dussen and Dominic Hendricks putting on 64, the partnership lacked intent and the Warriors were content in the first half of the innings as long as the pair weren’t scoring boundaries. Just four fours and a single six came during that partnership and while grateful for the platform, the Lions were badly in need of some urgency by the time Van der Dussen was bowled by Jon-Jon Smuts for 29.
In the circumstances Mosehle’s was a timely innings and once he’d assessed the sluggish pace of the pitch he quickly got stuck into the Warriors’ bowling. Successive sixes off Colin Ackerman in the 14th over kick-started the Lions’ innings and with Nicky van den Bergh cleverly feeding him the strike the Lions were able to set a competitive target.
Mosehle was caught at long on for 49 off 28 balls that included four fours and two sixes.
Smuts was the pick of the bowlers on a surface that gave assistance to all the spinners, as he finished with figures of 2/15 from his four overs.
Independent Media