A solid 92 by Ruan de Swardt and two Kerwin Mungroo wickets in the final session gave the Renault Potchefstroom North West Dragons a slight upper hand against the Dafabet Warriors on day two of their CSA 4-Day Series clash at St George's Park in Gqeberha on Friday.
Left-hander De Swardt struck nine fours and a six as he helped the visitors to 239 still trailing by 59 on the first innings shortly after the tea break.
Two quick wickets in the second over of the Warrior's second innings with just one run on the board pegged the hosts back before Jean du Plessis (23 not out) and Jiveshan Pillay (14 not out) steered the Warriors to the close on 41 for two and a lead of 100.
The Dragons started the day on three without loss and a devastating spell of fast bowling saw them lose seven batsmen for just 91 runs before De Swardt and Bamanye Xenxe steered their side to lunch on 105/7.
Duanne Olivier was the destroyer in chief, removing the Dragons' top three batsmen, Janneman Malan (8) and Lesiba Ngoepe for a duck in the ninth over, and Matthew Kleinveldt (14) an over later.
Patrick Kruger accounted for Wihan Lubbe (3) and Renaldo Meyer removed Rubin Hermann for nine runs to leave the Dragons reeling on 46 for five, still 252 runs behind.
Olivier then bowled Meeka-eel Prince for 19, ending his 34-run partnership with De Swardt before Beyers Swanepoel took the final wicket of the session when he dismissed Migael Pretorius.
Swanepoel removed Xenxe (26), Kerwin Mungroo (37) and De Swardt for a well-played 92, in an innings that spanned 160 balls.
He shared 82 runs with Mungroo, and 37 with number 11 Achille Cloete (nine not out) before eventually falling eight runs short of a fourth first-class hundred.
Olivier and Swanepoel recorded figures of 4/72 and 4/65 respectively.
Mungroo struck twice in the Warriors' second innings, removing Jordan Hermann and Andile Mokgakane for ducks and reducing them to one run for the loss of two wickets inside the second over.
But De Villiers and Pillay steadied the ship with some stern defence, taking the Warriors’ lead past 100, to lead them to the end of the day’s play without further damage.
De Swardt, Mungroo lead Dragons' fight back
Sports reporter
Image: Richard Huggard/Gallo Images
A solid 92 by Ruan de Swardt and two Kerwin Mungroo wickets in the final session gave the Renault Potchefstroom North West Dragons a slight upper hand against the Dafabet Warriors on day two of their CSA 4-Day Series clash at St George's Park in Gqeberha on Friday.
Left-hander De Swardt struck nine fours and a six as he helped the visitors to 239 still trailing by 59 on the first innings shortly after the tea break.
Two quick wickets in the second over of the Warrior's second innings with just one run on the board pegged the hosts back before Jean du Plessis (23 not out) and Jiveshan Pillay (14 not out) steered the Warriors to the close on 41 for two and a lead of 100.
The Dragons started the day on three without loss and a devastating spell of fast bowling saw them lose seven batsmen for just 91 runs before De Swardt and Bamanye Xenxe steered their side to lunch on 105/7.
Duanne Olivier was the destroyer in chief, removing the Dragons' top three batsmen, Janneman Malan (8) and Lesiba Ngoepe for a duck in the ninth over, and Matthew Kleinveldt (14) an over later.
Patrick Kruger accounted for Wihan Lubbe (3) and Renaldo Meyer removed Rubin Hermann for nine runs to leave the Dragons reeling on 46 for five, still 252 runs behind.
Olivier then bowled Meeka-eel Prince for 19, ending his 34-run partnership with De Swardt before Beyers Swanepoel took the final wicket of the session when he dismissed Migael Pretorius.
Swanepoel removed Xenxe (26), Kerwin Mungroo (37) and De Swardt for a well-played 92, in an innings that spanned 160 balls.
He shared 82 runs with Mungroo, and 37 with number 11 Achille Cloete (nine not out) before eventually falling eight runs short of a fourth first-class hundred.
Olivier and Swanepoel recorded figures of 4/72 and 4/65 respectively.
Mungroo struck twice in the Warriors' second innings, removing Jordan Hermann and Andile Mokgakane for ducks and reducing them to one run for the loss of two wickets inside the second over.
But De Villiers and Pillay steadied the ship with some stern defence, taking the Warriors’ lead past 100, to lead them to the end of the day’s play without further damage.
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