Duanne Olivier’s maiden Sunfoil Series 10-wicket haul laid the foundation for the Knights to storm to the top of the competition table with a comfortable 121-run victory over the Warriors on the final day of their clash in Bloemfontein on Sunday.
The 24-year-old, who made his Proteas debut in the final Test against Sri Lanka earlier this month, finished with 11 wickets in the match and 5/67 in the second innings as the visitors were dismissed for 200.
Only 36.2 overs were required by the home side on the final day as they took a giant stride towards the 2016/17 title by claiming an impressive 20.20 points to storm from fourth to first with an overall tally of 87.18 points.
And Olivier played a central role, adding impressively to his first-innings return of 6/82.
The Warriors had resumed the last morning on 73/3, and after the dismissal of nightwatchman Anrich Nortje (five) inside the first four overs, Lesiba Ngoepe and Yaseen Vallie dug in.
The pair put on a 72-run fifth-wicket stand to raise hopes of chasing down a 322-victory target.
But after Michael Erlank (1/17) eventually broke through, Olivier ran through the tail to finish with a match haul of 11/149 – extending his lead at top of the wickets chart to 39 in the process.
The Warriors lost their last five wickets for just 49, while Ngoepe ended as top-scorer with 56 (79 balls, 8x4).
Despite the loss, the Warriors (72.60) still managed to climb a spot to fourth on the standings and they still retained hope of winning the title.
* Rory Kleinveldt led a stunning bowling display by the Cape Cobras, with his five wickets paving the way for a superb nine-wicket win over defending champions the Titans late on Sunday.
The fast bowler took 5/45 in 18 overs as the home side were skittled for a poor 168 on the final afternoon, before the visitors eased to their 38-run victory target with just one wicket down.
It was a remarkable result for the Capetonians, considering the match ended up constituting 239.4 overs – with just under half of the time lost due to rain and bad light.
However, the Cobras’ first-innings batting display, built around a century from veteran Justin Ontong, and two disciplined performances by their bowlers set up a win that saw them climb off the foot of the table for the first time this season.
The Titans began the final day on 20/0 as a draw looked the most likely outcome. But after a 61-run opening stand between Aiden Markram (24) and Heino Kuhn (41), they lost all their wickets for 107.
Kleinveldt’s 18th career ‘five-for’ proved pivotal, but Tshepo Moreki (2/37) proved a useful foil, and so did Jason Smith after he picked up 1/17 in 11.3 overs – his wicket being top-scorer Heinrich Klaasen (54 off 133 balls, 4x4, 1x6).
The Cobras (70.66 points), who have enjoyed a real turnaround since the appointment of Ashwell Prince as coach at the turn of the year, walked away with 18.52 points to move ahead of the Highveld Lions (67.18).
The Titans (76.66) fell to third, although all six teams remain in the title hunt with two rounds to play.