Olivier recorded his second five-wicket haul in as many matches and claimed his 25th wicket of the campaign with a return of five for 53 as he spearheaded the Lions’ charge that dismissed the Knights for 124 before the home side reached stumps on 55 / 1, only 69 runs behind.

The high-profile clash at the Wanderers was just one of the four games from Division One taking place between 25-28 November with the matches streamed live via SuperSport’s YouTube channel.

The Lions, who have won all three of their games this season by a margin of an innings or more, began the day in fine fettle, with the Malusi Siboto (3 - 28) taking two early wickets in the opening 10 overs of the day before Knights’ Jacque Snyman (46) became Siboto’s third victim to leave the visitors on 68 / 3.

Despite a decent start, the Knights soon found themselves in further trouble, as Olivier found his rhythm to devastating effect, bagging four scalps to get rid of his opponent’s middle-order before the Proteas-capped bowler and Codi Yusuf (1 - 10) returned to finish the job within 38 overs.

With the bat, the hosts were measured in their approach at the crease before ending the day with one wicket down on 55 / 1 with Joshua Richards (33*) anchoring the reply from the top of the order.

In Paarl, the Titans were inspired by a fifth career red-ball century from Neil Brand (111 off 230; 7 fours) as the men from Centurion clocked 308 all out against the Rocks at Boland Park, with Zakhele Qwabe (4 - 40) the stand out bowler for the home side.

The Rocks will start day two with their opening batters at the crease with Cebo Tshiki and Isma-eel Gafieldien tasked with the first innings reply.

The day’s second hundred came from the bat of Warriors’ Matthew Breetzke, whose 100 off 202 balls (13 fours, 1 six) propelled the home side, along with Rudi Second’s 76, to a competitive 285 / 6 against the Six Gun Grill Western Province before the umpires flicked the bails off to call it a day.

Kyle Simmonds (2 - 36) was the highlight of the Province bowling performance.

Meanwhile at the JB Marks Oval, Marques Ackerman finished the day’s play just two runs short of his hundred on 98* off 124 balls (8 fours, 2 sixes) as the Dolphins reached stumps relatively unscathed on 213 / 3 in Potchefstroom against the North West Dragons.

Earlier, Ackermann partnered up with Keegan Petersen for an 86-run stand for the third wicket, before the latter was the last wicket to fall for a well-played 54 off 91 deliveries (9 fours).

The fourth-round action continues Friday, 26 November with the first ball bowled at 10h00.

CSA Four-Day Domestic Series: Round 4 - Day 1 Scores: 

Lions trail Knights by 69 runs

Knights: 124 / 10 after 37.5 overs; J. Snyman 46 (50), G. Coetzee 21 (44); D. Olivier 5 - 53, M. Siboto 3 - 28

Lions: 55 / 1 after 17.1 overs; J. Richards 33* (56), D. Hendricks 5 (38); P. Kruger 1 - 1, G. Coetzee 0 - 14

Dolphins lead North West Dragons by 213

Dolphins: 213 / 3 after 51.3 overs; M. Ackerman 98* (124), K. Petersen 54 (91); D. Potgieter 3 - 34,

North West Dragons: Yet to bat

 Titans lead Rocks by 308 runs

Titans: 308 / 10 after 99.3 overs; N. Brand 111 (230), G. Cloete 56 (115); Z. Qwabe 4 - 40, H. Viljoen 2 - 77

Rocks: Yet to bat. 

Warriors lead Western Province by 285 runs

Warriors: 285 / 6 after M. Breetzke 100 (202), R. Second 76 (136); K. Simmonds 2 - 36, G. Kaplan 1 - 13

Western Province: Yet to bat.