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Johannesburg - The Knights' seam attack ripped through the Impi line-up as the newest team in SA domestic cricket were handed their fourth successive defeat in Benoni on Friday night.
Chasing 153 runs to win, the Impi never really got going as they were restricted to 128/7, with the visitors securing a comfortable 24-run win.
Opener Adrian McLaren, who made 24, and big-hitting Dutch international Ryan ten Doeschate, who contributed 26, were the only Impi top-order batsmen to get significant starts.
Ryan Canning, unbeaten on 22, and Craig Alexander, who hit 20, shared a fighting 35-run stand for the seventh wicket, but their efforts were thwarted by a disciplined Knights attack.
Left-armer Jandre Coetzee was the pick of the bowlers, returning 3/19, and he was well backed by veteran Johan van der Wath who took 2/29.
The hosts got off to a great start after the Knights won the toss and opted to bat.
Knights opener Rilee Rossouw gifted Impi captain Paul Collingwood with a sitter, off the bowling of spinner Siya Simetu, from the second ball of the innings.
Knights captain Morne van Wyk, however, led a recovery with 48 runs from 35 balls before he was caught and bowled by Collingwood midway through the innings.
Reeza Hendricks, who made 30, and Ryan Bailey, who hit 33, combined in a 54-run partnership for the fourth wicket, though seam bowler Pumelela Matshikwe struck twice in two balls to halt the visiting side’s momentum in the 17th over.
Australian paceman Ben Edmonson did well to restrict the Knights at the death, ensuring they added only 21 runs from the last 19 balls as they reached 152/6.
Matshikwe spearheaded the Impi attack, though he was rather expensive, returning 3/41 from his four overs.
