A fantastic maiden franchise century from Warriors rising star Sinethemba Qeshile helped his team claim a nail-biting seven-run Duckworth/Lewis method win in their Momentum One-Day Cup match against the Lions at Buffalo Park in East London on Friday night.
Qeshile cracked a superb unbeaten 121 off 105 balls, featuring 13 boundaries and three sixes and shared in a Warriors record fifth-wicket partnership of 160 with Colin Ackermann as they set the visitors 310 to win.
However two rain delays in the Lions' chase saw the target reduced to 284 off 41 overs, which proved to be too much in the end.
The Lions chase got off to a disastrous start as they were reduced to 31/3 in the sixth over after Andrew Birch picked up two wickets, including danger man Temba Bavuma.
However, Dominic Hendricks was then joined at the crease by Nicky van den Bergh and they fought back taking the Lions to 101/3 after 17 overs when the first rain delay hit.
It was a fine drizzle, however, and the players were back on the park within 30 minutes but five overs had been taken off and the target reduced to 296.
Hendricks and Van den Bergh then just picked up where they left off and having taken the Lions past the 150 in the 24th over they were starting to become favourites. But captain Jon-Jon Smuts then ended any chance with three wickets before and after the second rain delay, including Van den Bergh for 72, which put the Lions on 192/6 and too much to do despite Hendricks valiantly hitting an unbeaten century to get them very close.
At the start of play the Warriors won the toss and elected to bat, but regular early wickets saw them in a spot of bother on 63/4 in the 16th over.
Opener Gihahn Cloete (9) was first to go, clean-bowled by Nandre Burger as his middle stump went cartwheeling out the ground while captain Smuts (4) followed him back to the pavilion in the next over, trapped LBW by Bjorn Fortuin, leaving the home side on 17/2 in the fifth over.
Matthew Breetzke (17) and Lesiba Ngoepe (29) then fell after getting starts, Breetzke popping an easy return catch to bowler Burger while Ngoepe got a leading edge back to bowler Aaron Phangiso.
This saw Qeshile stride to the crease to join Ackermann and they set off on the match-defining partnership.
The two batted positively, taking the Warriors past the hundred-mark in the 22nd over and bringing up their 50-run partnership off 48 deliveries.
Both batsmen were matching each other score-wise and after taking the Warriors past the 150 mark in the 29th over they brought up their half-centuries in the 31st over with boundaries off Fortuin while also bringing up their hundred partnership at the same time.
By the time Qeshile brought up the 200 with a sweet maximum off the bowling of Burger in the 37th over, both batsmen were on 70 and flying.
But a disastrous three balls in the 40th and 41st overs almost derailed the home side.
First at the end of the 40th over it took a fantastic catch from Bavuma at cover point to get rid of Ackermann for 78.
The first ball of the next over then saw Qeshile hit the ball to square leg with new man Marco Marais setting off for a single, but Qeshile was not interested, leaving Marais stranded and run out for a duck.
The very next ball then saw Qeshile dropped by Bavuma at short cover on 79 with him gratefully taking his reprieve to bring up his century with a single in the 48th over.
Late cameos from Onke Nyaku (16) and Andrew Birch (19) helped Qeshile along the way.