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THE Chevrolet Warriors were involved in their second RAM SLAM T20 tie in three days as the bizhub Highveld Lions failed to get across the line in a thrilling game at Buffalo Park on Sunday.
Lundi Mbane had been the hero as the Warriors avoided defeat against the Sunfoil Dolphins on Friday, and this time it was Rusty Theron who put in a clinical display of death bowling to hold the Lions at bay.
The visitors went into the last three overs needing 24 runs to win with five wickets in hand, but Theron allowed just four and a wicket from the 18th and Mbane conceded 10 from the 19th.
That left 10 required from the final over, which came down to two from the final delivery, which Theron bowled to Hardus Viljoen. After Viljoen missed the ball, Sohail Tanvir was run out attempting a second bye that would have won the game.
The tie lifted the Warriors into second place on 14 points - at least until the conclusion of The Unlimited Titans’ match against the Chevrolet Knights - which the Knights ended up winning to do the Warriors a big favour. .
The game was dominated by a couple of half-centuries - first Jon-Jon Smuts’ 73 from just 54 balls which set up a Warriors total of 156 for five after they’d elected to bat first; then 78 from 57 balls by Gulam Bodi in the chase.
The trouble for the Lions was that nobody was able to form a partnership with Bodi and, when he was dismissed by Mbane in the penultimate over, it left two tail-enders to finish the job.
The task proved beyond them, and so the Lions remain winless even if they will draw a small amount of satisfaction from picking up their first points of the tournament.
The Warriors now travel straight to Kimberley where they'll play the Knights on Wednesday.
Then its back to East London to take on the Titans on Friday.
