ANDRE Nel and Cliffie Deacon, in their first match for the Lions, bowled the Johannesburg team to victory over the Warriors on Sunday.
The two medium-pace bowlers took seven wickets between them to bowl out the Warriors for 213, when the team from the Eastern Cape were attempting to score 251 runs in the fourth innings for victory.
The Lions won by 37 runs, in spite of losing Neil McKenzie shortly before the match started last Thursday because of an injury suffered in practice when he was struck by a ball bowled by Nel.
Alviro Petersen, who captained the Lions in this match, made centuries in the first and second innings which helped set up the victory that Nel and Deacon were able to clinch yesterday afternoon.
Petersen hit 131 in the first innings and 120 in the second. In both cases, he had little support. In the first innings, Vaughan van Jaarsveld was the only other batsman to reach a half-century and in the second, the next best score was 4-0 by Nel, batting in the tail.
The Lions and the Eagles emerged from the first Supersport matches of the season with victories. The Eagles beat the Cobras on Saturday in Kimberley by 86 runs.
The Cobras batted poorly in their first innings, replying to the Eagles 296 and conceded a lead of 171 from which they could never recover, in spite of dismissing the Eagles for 129 in the second innings with 18-year-old Riley Rossouw getting top score for the Eagles of 63.
The third match of the weekend was a draw between the Dolphins and the Titans at Kingsmead in Durban. The weather  played havoc with the match, which lasted only two innings and was notable for the five wickets taking by Titans legbreak bowler Imran Tahir. Tahir will qualify for South African citizenship next year. He is a Pakistani-born spin bowler who could ease the Proteas woes in that department.
The man of the match award went to Jon Kent, who scored 91 and featured in a partnership of 157 with Pierre de Bruyn.
Heavy overnight and morning rains made play impossible yesterdaysun as the ground was covered in pools of water. After an early lunch which was taken at 11am, the umpires decided to call an end to proceedings of a match that was restricted to an innings each, resulting in the match ending in a draw.
  
Scores in brief

Johannesburg: Lions bt Warriors by 37 runs. Lions 255 (Alviro Petersen 131, Vaughan van Jaarsveld 51; Lonwabo Tsotsobe  2/29, Sinethemba Mjekula 2/54, Zander de Bruyn 2/42, Justin Kreusch 2/34, Robin Petersen 2/12) and 311 (Alviro Petersen 120, Andre Nel 40; Robin Petersen 5/60, Sinethemba Mjekula 2/53). Warriors 316 (Justin Kreusch 85no, Davey Jacobs 59, Arno Jacobs 50; Craig Alexander 3/68, Andre Nel 2/99, Cliffie Deacon 2/55, Werner Coetsee 2/26) and 213 (Justin Kreusch 49, Michael Smith 39, Zander de Bruyn 30, Davey Jacobs 30; Andre Nel 4/51, Cliffie Deacon 3/48, Garnett Kruger 2/42)

Kimberley: Diamond Eagles bt Cape Cobras by 86 runs. Eagles 296 (Ryan Bailey 91, Boeta Dippenaar 81, Con de Lange 39, Riley Rossouw 23; Monde Zondeki 3/62, Charl Langeveldt 3/76, Vernon Philander 2/49) and 129 (Riley Rossouw 63no; Charl Langeveldt 3/24, Vernon Philander 3/39, Rory Kleinveldt 3/27). Cape Cobras 125 (Claude Henderson 29; Dillon du Preez 4/48, CJ de Villiers 4/32) and 214 (Vernon Philander 42, Justin Ontong 35, Henry Davids 31; Dillon du Preez 3/28, CJ de Villiers 3/70; Ryan Bailey 2/32)

Durban: Dolphins drew with Titans. Titans 211 (Gulam Bodi 62, Martin van Jaarsveld 58, Farhaan Behardien 47; Quentin Friend 3/33, Ugasen Govender 2/37, Jon Kent 2/38, Daryn Smit 2/27). Dolphins 292 (Jon Kent 91, Pierre de Bruyn 73; Imran Tahir 5/103, Ethy Mbhalati 3/26, Pierre Joubert 2/26)
 

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2. Alviro to the fore
3. Lions top of the log
4. Botha back for Proteas
5. SA second XI have the edge