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Cape Town - A career-best 228 by Stiaan van Zyl put the Cape Cobras in a strong position before the Highveld Lions fought back on day two of their Sunfoil Series encounter at Boland Park in Paarl on Friday.
The elegant left-hander struck 27 fours in his innings of 287 balls as the hosts amassed 574 for eight, their best ever score in the fixture and second highest in their franchise history.
However, the visitors recovered from a poor start to fight back and reach the close on 191 for two.
Captain Stephen Cook and Rassie van der Dussen were key to the fightback after sharing an unbroken 152-run third-wicket stand with the former going to stumps on 81 (131 balls, 8 fours) and the latter ending on 89 (135 balls, 11 fours).
It was a solid end to the day for the bottom-of-the-table Lions and will give them some confidence going into day three.
However, the first two sessions mainly belonged to the Cobras, who were lead impressively by Van Zyl’s first-ever double century.
Most of his support came through Lizaad Williams highest score of his own after he hit an unbeaten 53 (59 balls, 5 fours, 1 six), allowing the home side to declare after 143.1 overs.
Omphile Ramela was the pick of the bowlers with two for 50.
However, he was then one of two wickets to fall as the Lions slipped to 39 for two, before the Cook-Van der Dussen revival.
