Warriors: 342/4
(Ackerman 116*, Price 99, Vallie 61, Van Zyl 2/33)
Cape Town - Can the Cape Cobras slump any lower? After two weeks of batting failures, it was now the bowlers turn to put in a limp performance at Newlands.
It was not that they were overly erratic with their line or lengths, and admittedly the surface was flatter than a pancake, but there was simply no energy in their efforts on the first day of this third round Sunfoil Series clash.
A team that once set such lofty standards for themselves seems to be content with going through the motions in the hope that the batsmen would make the mistake. And when there were indeed lapses in concentration, the fielders were not alert to the chances offered.
Andrew Puttick was the guilty party on both occasions, and ironically Yaseen Vallie the beneficiary each time, with the veteran spilling two opportunities in the slip cordon.
The Warriors batsmen certainly took full advantage with the competition’s leading run-scorers Colin Ackerman (116 not out) and Eddie Moore (50) realising it was a day to fill their boots. Opener Michael Price was equally impressive, although the “nervous nineties” got the better of him as he spent 45 minutes trying to reach three figures.
Ultimately, the tension was too much for the 35-year-old, with part-time medium pace bowler Stiaan van Zyl getting one to slip through his defences with Price just one short of a well-deserved century. It was a rare moment of joy for a Cobras attack that was made to toil for most of the day.
Ackerman, though, was not going to suffer a similar fate and moved comfortably towards his eighth first-class century. The tall right-hander is certainly starting to fulfil the promising talent this season that he showed while still at schoolboy at Grey High in Port Elizabeth a few years ago. It was his second successive Sunfoil Series century after his 136 against the Titans last week at St George’s Park.
South African Test discard Dane Piedt was one of the few Cobras bowlers that could be content with their day’s work in the field. Piedt bowled without much luck - it was off his bowling that Vallie was dropped on nine - and consistently tried to engineer a breakthrough.
He went over the wicket, around the wicket, and then back over the wicket, and also bowled with a “6-3” field split without a point fielder in a bid to stem the ease with which the Warriors batsmen were accumulating runs. The scalp of Lesiba Ngoepe - another former Cobras batsman in the Warriors line-up - for a duck was a much-deserved reward for his efforts.
The Cobras’ will need to have some tough words with each other overnight in a bid to come out with a bit more zest on Friday morning. If not, and while it may still be early into this contest, they could be staring at three defeats on the bounce.
Independent Media