Johannesburg - The Knights batsmen are being hampered by the weather in Johannesburg as they dominated the Highveld Lions on the second day of their domestic four-day series match at the Wanderers on Friday.
Having seen the entire first day lost due to a wet pitch, play only started at 12.20pm on Friday with the Knights being sent in to bat.
They cruised to 193 for two before bad light stopped play at 4.50pm with 20.2 overs still scheduled to be bowled on the second day.
The Lions attack are being punished for wayward bowling as the Knights put together solid partnerships of 58, 88 and 47 runs unbeaten, to grab control of the clash between the teams that are second and third on the log.
Opener Reeza Hendricks made 62 before he drove a Hardus Viljoen half-volley straight to extra cover and Rilee Rossouw rammed home the Knights' advantage in the late afternoon with 67 not out off 130 balls.
Medium-pacer Brett Pelser made the other breakthrough for the Lions on a disappointing day for them, ending an opening stand of 58 between Hendricks and Gihahn Cloete by having the latter caught behind for 33.
Rudi Second is with Rossouw at the crease on 28 not out and the pair have added 47 runs for the third wicket in 77 minutes.
Meanwhile in East London, the Dolphins are in control of their match against the Warriors, after bowling the home side out for 240.
The Dolphins made 339 in their first innings for a lead of 99 runs, which they stretched to 133 by stumps, as they reached 34 for one in their second innings.
Unorthodox left-arm spinner Tabraiz Shamsi, brought in for his first match of the campaign, was the chief destroyer for the Dolphins, claiming five for 68 in 21 overs, while young Daryn Dupavillon took three for 43.
The Warriors' innings started solidly with Michael Price (28) and the in-form David White (35) adding 54 for the first wicket.
But White was then bowled by left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj and the Warriors only had one other partnership of significance as captain Ashwell Prince (36) and Colin Ingram (54 not out) added 65 for the fourth wicket.
But Shamsi made the breakthrough and then he and Dupavillon ran through the lower-order, leaving Ingram as the last man standing.
In Paarl, the Titans were kept afloat in their first innings of their match against the Cape Cobras at Boland Park by Graeme van Buuren, the diminutive 23-year-old scoring 83 not out to lead them to 183 for four at stumps.
Replying to the Cobras' first innings of 429, the Titans were in early trouble as they slipped to 21 for two, but Van Buuren united with skipper Henry Davids (41) and then Qaasim Adams (32) to dig the visitors out of trouble.
The Titans bowlers had been in all sorts of states of disarray on the first day, as shown by the 43 extras they conceded as the Cobras reached 345 for five, but they fought back well on Friday to claim the last five wickets for 84 runs.
Junior Dala rebounded well from a horrible first day as he took two wickets, and leg-spinner Shaun von Berg ran through the tail to take four for 102 in 30 overs.
The highly-rated Vincent Moore took three for 67, knocking over three of the top four batsmen.
Dane Vilas (77) and Justin Kemp (42) took their overnight stand to 53 on Friday morning, but the Cobras would have wanted more runs from the lower-order.
Rory Kleinveldt asked plenty of questions with the ball for the Cobras and Heino Kuhn, bowled for a duck by the fifth ball of the innings, and Davids, trapped lbw, did not have the answers.
The Cobras have picked up 6.08 bonus points so far, stretching their lead on the log to nearly 10 points over the Knights.
The Cobras are on 81.10 points, the Knights on 71.22 and the third-placed Dolphins are on 66.86 points.
Sapa