Lions make steady progress as Four-Day final finally gets underway

An unbeaten 80-run partnership between Mitchell van Buuren and Zubayr Hamza helped the DP World Lions end a shortened day two of the Division 1 Four-Day Series final against Momentum Multiply Titans on 160/2 in Johannesburg on Friday.

After the first day of what is meant to be a five-day first-class final was washed out, more time was lost at the start of day two due to a wet outfield.

When play did eventually get underway, only 42 overs were sent down as the hosts held the slight advantage over their cross Jukskei rivals at DP World Wanderers, where they won the toss and opted to bat first.

They suffered an early blow when Dominic Hendricks was dismissed by veteran seamer Junior Dala (1/32) in his first over of the game and with the score on 28, the opener caught by Janco Smit at extra cover for 15.

The other opener Joshua Richards kept going at the other end, adding 52 alongside Hamza for the second wicket, before falling to Smit for 38.

Those proved to be the only two wickets to fall. Hamza thereafter knuckled down, and together with Van Buuren kept the Titans at bay.

The former struck eight boundaries in his 84 deliveries, while the latter needed just 71 balls for his unbeaten half century, which included nine fours and two sixes.