Johannesburg - The Highveld Lions’ attempts to maintain their lead at the top of the Sunfoil Series table received a blow when just 30 overs of play were possible on day three of their clash with the Sunfoil Dolphins at the Wanderers.
Rain forced play to be delayed on three separate occasions, while bad light also played havoc on a stop-start day.
The Dolphins perhaps had the better of what play was possible as they claimed the last five Lions wickets and limited the hosts’ first-innings lead to 119.
However, that progress was pegged back when they lost Imraan Khan cheaply, leaving them on 22/1 in their second innings when play was finally abandoned for the day.
After rain had prevented play from starting on time, the Lions finally resumed on 356/5 but lost Dominic Hendricks for 31 and then Chris Morris for 57.
That brought Hardus Viljoen (38) and Kagiso Rabada (19) together, and they attempted to stretch the lead as quickly as possible, adding 50 runs from 38 balls before the lunch break.
Keshav Maharaj snapped the partnership after the break, allowing the tail to be mopped up swiftly thereafter, but the game was held up again during the innings break when the rain returned.
Just 10 overs were possible after the resumption - long enough for Khan to be caught behind off the bowling of Rabada - before bad light halted proceedings for good.
The Dolphins will, therefore, go into the final day still trailing by 97 runs with nine wickets in hand.