The road to the Qualifier

Warriors' captain Colin Ingram fell short of reaching his century when he ran out of batting partners, ending up with 97 not out. The Warriors won the match by 14 runs.

In the opening game of the tournament, the Warriors edged past the Titans in a nail-biting two wicket victory. JJ Smuts bludgeoned his way to 101 runs from 74 balls. This was the perfect start to the season for the Eastern Cape franchise.

The Dolphins were the next victims as the Warriors won by 42 runs compliments of another entertaining batting display, this time by Yaseen Vallie who scored 96 runs from just 78 balls. Smuts once again played a major role, this time with the ball taking three wickets in his allocated then overs.

The Dolphins were blown out the water in the return leg when the Warriors defeated them by a mammoth nine wickets. The bowlers came to the party with Andrew Birch taking four wickets for a miserly 15 runs in 10 overs. Ayabulela Gqamane chipped in with three wickets in 4.3 overs for 18 runs.

Of course we have to mention Sisanda Magala’s five wicket haul against the Cape Cobras. The Warriors would go on to win the match by five wickets.

Stephen Cook (127) and Alviro Petersen (100) put on second-wicket, 213-run partnership that led the Lions to a convincing eight-wicket victory against the Cape Cobras in their opening game of the tournament. Another lighting fast start off the blocks.

It was crucial for the Lions to bounce back to winning ways following defeats to the Dolphins (Four wickets), Titans (Eight wickets) and a no result against the Warriors. Eddie Leie took five wickets while Alviro Petersen stared with the bat scoring 134 runs from 128 balls. The Lions went on to win the game by a mammoth 184 runs.

There’s a reason why Stephen Cook received a call-up to the Proteas’ Test team. The opening batsman was instrumental in the Lions posting a first innings score of 256 runs, contributing 112 runs to the total. The Lions went on to win the game by four wickets. Will Cook continue dish up another spicy meal for the Warriors in the qualifier?

Alviro Petersen was once again the star of the show with another well-deserved century (107 runs) leading his team to an eight-run win over the Dolphins. Matt McGillivray was the chief destroyer with the ball, taking four wickets.

Eddie Leie and Matt McGillivray took three wickets each to restrict the Knights to 169 runs. Stephen Cook topped scored with 64 runs. The Lions won the game by four wickets to qualify for a play-off position.