Janneman Malan struck an impressive 70 in 91 balls to lead the Gbets Rocks to a useful 240 for eight in their CSA One-Day Cup match against the DP World Lions at Boland Park in Paarl on Saturday. 

In a match between the two bottom teams in Division One, with the Lions yet to open their account, the Rocks ground their way to a slightly above-average first-innings total (209 being the mean) on a typically slow Boland Park track that made fluent batting increasingly difficult as the ball got softer. 

The Rocks owed a great deal to Malan and Clyde Fortuin, who put on 89 in 15.2 overs for the first wicket before Fortuin, frustrated by the Lions’ best bowler, left-arm spinner Bjorn Fortuin, dashed down the pitch and was neatly stumped by wicketkeeper Ryan Rickelton. 

An increasingly fluent Malan, and an initially hesitant Keegan Petersen then added a further 51 for the second wicket before Malan edged medium-pacer Evan Jones’ first delivery to Rickelton. He had struck seven fours and two sixes in his innings. 

It was now up to Petersen to extend the innings profitably but the diminutive right-hander struggled to time the ball and although he reached a half-century, was dismissed shortly afterwards, caught on the midwicket boundary, for 50 in 82 balls.  

There were cameo contributions thereafter from Michael Copeland (17), Ferisco Adams (17) and Hardus Viljoen, but the middle and late-order batsmen were unable to lift the tempo of the innings after their brisk start. 

Fortuin was the standout bowler for the visitors, claiming 3-27 in 10 overs, while leg-spinner Nquaba Peter showed promise despite some loose deliveries, taking 2-50 in his full spell. The highlight of the outfielding was Jones’ excellent diving catch on the square-leg boundary to dismiss Aviwe Mgijima. 

GBETS ROCKS: Clyde Fortuin (wk), Janneman Malan, Keegan Petersen, Pieter Malan (capt), Ferisco Adams, Shaun van Berg, Aviwe Mgijima, Michael Copeland, Hardus Viljoen, Siyabonga Mahima, Achille Cloete

DP WORLD LIONS: Ryan Rickelton (wk), Zubayr Hamza, Dominic Hendricks (capt), Joshua Richards, Mitchell van Buuren, Evan Jones, Wiaan Mulder, Bjorn Fortuin, Malusi Siboto, Tshepo Moreki, Nqabayomzi Peter