Knights batsmen Patrick Botha and Gihahn Cloete showed remarkable reserves of patience and stamina as they defied the Dafabet Warriors to earn a draw in their Cricket SA Four-Day Series match at a sweltering St George's Park on Sunday.
After a brilliant double century by the 24-year-old Matthew de Villiers had turned the match around for the home side, the Knights were quickly in trouble in their second innings, having been set a target of 330 to win.
In the space of 10 overs they were reduced to 23/3, but then came the rescue act as Botha and Cloete made patience a priority for the rest of the day.
Coming together in the 11th over, they kept the Warriors attack at bay for the next 78 overs as they added a match-saving 123 runs for the fourth wicket.
Eventually Beyers Swanepoel ended their long vigil when he trapped Botha in front for 77 made off 251 deliveries.
By then, though, the match was virtually over as a contest and it eventually ended with the Knights on 166/4 after 97 overs.
Cloete was unbeaten on 43 at the close, coming off 248 balls.
Earlier in the day, the Warriors resumed their second innings just long enough for De Villiers, who grew up in the Western Cape, to take his score from the overnight 194 to 201 before being dismissed by Tiaan van Vuuren.
With their batsmen finally finding some form, the Warriors, who trailed by 20 runs on the first innings after being dismissed for 161 on Thursday, declared their second innings on 349/5 after 75 overs.
De Villiers, naturally, played the central role in the home team's fightback.
Playing in only his sixth first-class fixture, he surpassed his previous best of score of 94 on Saturday before going on to a memorable double-ton.
He hit 28 fours off 221 balls during his innings and shared a third-wicket stand of 220 with JP King, who contributed an excellent 64 off 132 balls after making a useful 43 in the first innings.
Besides the eye-catching exploits of those batsmen, Warriors bowler Beyers Swanepoel got his team back into the match when the Knights batted with a brilliant return of 6/30 in 21 overs.
The home team were on the back foot after their modest first innings, but thanks to Swanepoel, who has been the standout performer for them this season, and CJ King's 3/46, they were able to limit the damage and concede only a 20-run first innings deficit.
De Villiers's batting heroics tended to overshadow the efforts of 41-year-old Aaron Phangiso in the Knights first innings, who helped his team to recover from 76/6 to reach 191.
His innings of 74 off 169 balls saw him fall just three runs short of his best first-class innings.
The Herald
Knights defy Warriors to earn draw
Image: RICHARD HUGGARD/GALLO IMAGEAS
Knights batsmen Patrick Botha and Gihahn Cloete showed remarkable reserves of patience and stamina as they defied the Dafabet Warriors to earn a draw in their Cricket SA Four-Day Series match at a sweltering St George's Park on Sunday.
After a brilliant double century by the 24-year-old Matthew de Villiers had turned the match around for the home side, the Knights were quickly in trouble in their second innings, having been set a target of 330 to win.
In the space of 10 overs they were reduced to 23/3, but then came the rescue act as Botha and Cloete made patience a priority for the rest of the day.
Coming together in the 11th over, they kept the Warriors attack at bay for the next 78 overs as they added a match-saving 123 runs for the fourth wicket.
Eventually Beyers Swanepoel ended their long vigil when he trapped Botha in front for 77 made off 251 deliveries.
By then, though, the match was virtually over as a contest and it eventually ended with the Knights on 166/4 after 97 overs.
Cloete was unbeaten on 43 at the close, coming off 248 balls.
Earlier in the day, the Warriors resumed their second innings just long enough for De Villiers, who grew up in the Western Cape, to take his score from the overnight 194 to 201 before being dismissed by Tiaan van Vuuren.
With their batsmen finally finding some form, the Warriors, who trailed by 20 runs on the first innings after being dismissed for 161 on Thursday, declared their second innings on 349/5 after 75 overs.
De Villiers, naturally, played the central role in the home team's fightback.
Playing in only his sixth first-class fixture, he surpassed his previous best of score of 94 on Saturday before going on to a memorable double-ton.
He hit 28 fours off 221 balls during his innings and shared a third-wicket stand of 220 with JP King, who contributed an excellent 64 off 132 balls after making a useful 43 in the first innings.
Besides the eye-catching exploits of those batsmen, Warriors bowler Beyers Swanepoel got his team back into the match when the Knights batted with a brilliant return of 6/30 in 21 overs.
The home team were on the back foot after their modest first innings, but thanks to Swanepoel, who has been the standout performer for them this season, and CJ King's 3/46, they were able to limit the damage and concede only a 20-run first innings deficit.
De Villiers's batting heroics tended to overshadow the efforts of 41-year-old Aaron Phangiso in the Knights first innings, who helped his team to recover from 76/6 to reach 191.
His innings of 74 off 169 balls saw him fall just three runs short of his best first-class innings.
The Herald
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