Benkenstein halts WP's final surge

Dale Benkenstein dominated this top of the table clash. KwaZulu-Natal, sent in to bat, stumbled to 48 for 4 halfway through the opening session, but lost just one more wicket in the day as Benkenstein shared successive century partnerships with first Jon Kent then the veteran Lance Klusener.

Charl Willoughby justified Ackerman's decision to field first as he struck with his sixth ball, having Ahmed Amla caught in the slips. He caught the big fish soon afterwards, bowling Jonty Rhodes and when Dawson had the promising Hashim Amla caught behind, the visitors were teetering on 29 for 3. Worse came when Telemachus had Doug Watson out hooking, but that was the limit of the home team's success.

From there, Kent and Benkenstein calmly set about rebuilding the innings with a partnership of 157 in 3 and a half hours, wresting the initiative from the home side as the teeth were gradually drawn from the attack. Apart from the odd play and miss, the batsmen continued comfortably and it came as a surprise when Kent drove a Willoughby delivery to extra cover.

Klusener then played a restrained innings, but still hit the ball firmly and included nine boundaries in his 50, reached shortly before close of play. KZN passed the 300 mark in the 99th over, and finished with 4.12 batting bonus points to WP's two for bowling, and remained firmly at the top of the Super Six log.