Dolphins, Lions evenly poised after opening day

Cape Town - Rassie van der Dussen struck an unbeaten half-century for the Highveld Lions as they ended the opening day of their Sunfoil Series clash against the Dolphins with honours even at the City Oval in Pietermaritzburg on Friday.

The right-hander hit 55 (131 balls, 6 fours) to help the visitors reach 202 for five when stumps were drawn early due to bad light. Only 78 overs were eventually bowled.

The Lions had won the toss and opted to bat first in the round three encounter, but most of their batsmen failed to make the most of good starts - in the process conceding some of the advantage to the Dolphins.

Stephen Cook made 20 and shared in a 55-run opening stand with Reeza Hendricks (41), but both were dismissed by the spin of Senuran Muthusamy (2/57).

Omphile Ramela followed the openers with 25, before Mthokozisi Shezi accounted for Nicky van den Bergh (13) and Dwaine Pretorius (6) cheaply.

Van der Dussen nonetheless kept fighting and found a capable partner in Wiaan Mulder (41 not out) as the pair shared an unbroken stand of 62 that took the Lions to the close.