Tshepo Moreki © Gallo Images

Janneman Malan scored a patient half-century to help Renault Potchefstroom North West Dragons post 226-3 on day one of their CSA 4-Day Series match against DP World Lions at the JB Marks Oval in Potchefstroom on Thursday.

The game was stopped early due to bad light.

Earlier in the day, the Dragons won the toss and elected to bat first.

They handled a formidable Lions bowling attack to finish the day with minimal damage.

At the end of the game there were Raynard van Tonder (48*) and Wihan Lubbe (45*).

Malan adopted a more measured approach in his batting. The 28-year-old patiently built up his 16th first-class half-century and faced 153 deliveries to get there.

His strike helped the home side take control of the match in the first two sessions of the day.

Before lunch, Malan shared a 53-run opening stand with Matthew Kleinveldt. This was replaced by a 67-run second wicket partnership between Malan and Lesiba Ngoepe.

The Dragons found themselves in a difficult situation after losing Malan and Ngoepe by 7.4 overs for 21 runs.

The home side were brought back on track by Van Tonder and Lubbe. Last week, the middle-order batsmen showed great understanding towards each other as they built an unbroken 158-run partnership against the Knights.

The Dragons needed another performance like this to bounce back from. They did not disappoint.

Van Tonder and Lubbe shared an unbroken fourth-wicket partnership of 85 runs, which saw the home team see an end without further damage to their wicket column.

The Lions’ pick of the bowlers was Tshepo Moreki.

The pacer took two wickets for 23 runs in 11 overs. Codi Yusuf was the other player to take a single wicket for 39 runs in 10 overs.

DRAGONS: Janneman Malan, Matthew Kleinveldt, Lesiba Ngoepe, Raynard van Tonder, Wihan Lubbe (captain), Ruan de Swardt, Taheer Isaacs (week), Migael Pretorius, Achille Cloete, Odirile Modimokoane, Jaydon Brooker.

DP WORLD LIONS: Joshua Richards, Dominic Hendricks (captain), Zubayr Hamza, Wiaan Mulder, Khaya Fakude, Connor Esterhuizen (week), Delano Potgieter, Bjorn Fortuin, Codi Yusuf, Tshepo Moreki, Junaid Dawood.