Johannesburg – Simon Harmer starred with both bat and ball as the Warriors beat the Highveld Lions by 26 runs in the second game of the Twenty20 triple-header at Newlands on Sunday.
Harmer's 38 not out from 26 balls hauled the Warriors to a respectable score of 140 for seven, and he followed that up by taking 2 for 22 in four overs as the Lions were bowled out for 114.
The Warriors' decision to bat first appeared to have backfired when Chris Morris achieved prodigious swing and recorded a double-wicket maiden in his second over.
The only thing which delayed the fall of wickets was a brief rain delay, to which no overs were lost, as the Warriors slumped to 54 for six after 10 overs.
However, Ryan Bailey made the most of his good fortune after he was dropped by Hardus Viljoen off the bowling of Imran Tahir, scoring 61 off 54 balls to keep things ticking over until Harmer provided the late assault.
A target of 141 looked very achievable for the Lions, who took the cautious approach up front - they reached their 50 in 53 balls for the loss of just one wicket.
But Jon-Jon Smuts turned that plan on its head when he grabbed the wickets of Rassie van der Dussen, Azhar Mahmood and Neil McKenzie.
With Alviro Petersen run out and Harmer grabbing a couple of wickets in his final two overs, the game was up but the Lions did squeeze out a few more runs to deny the Warriors a bonus point. – Sapa