The Rhinos spin duo of Alexander Kok and Kgaudise Molefe took 19 wickets between them to give their team a convincing 162-run win over the KZN Tuskers.

It was the Mpumalanga team’s first win of the 2021/22 CSA 4-Day Series.

The match was played at Uplands College from last Thursday to Sunday.

The Tuskers won the toss and put the home team in to bat.

It seemed the correct decision with Alexander Kok, Liam Peters and Tumi Koto back in the pavilion in the 21st over with 67 runs on the board.

But Rhinos captain, Yasser Cook, came in at number five and flayed the Tuskers bowlers.

He and Benjamin van Niekerk took the Rhinos to 266 for five.

Cook scored 169 off 194 balls. Van Niekerk was eventually out for 75.

An excellent 36 from Rubin Hermann and an aggressive 38 off 26 balls from Bamyane Xenxe ensured the Rhinos posted a first innings total of 384.

Matthew Pollard was the pick of the Tuskers’ bowlers, taking 5 for 78 in 17.2 overs. Keith Dudgeon took four for 87 in 18 overs.

The Tuskers started out brilliantly with Michael Erlank and Tshepang Dithole putting on an opening partnership of 132 runs.

Kok bowled Erlank for 59 and the battle to break the opening stand fired the Rhinos as Kok and Kgaudise Molefe ripped through the Tuskers with just another 126 runs being added.

The visitors were all out for 247, giving the Rhinos a 137 run lead.

Kok took five for 66 in 28.5 overs at an economy rate of 2.28. Molefe conceded just 1.69 runs per over in his four for 39 in 23. Both bowled nine maidens.

The Rhinos battled in their second innings and could not build decent partnerships.

Opener, Kok, went for a duck and it did not get any better from there. The home team were all out for 196, with Koto and Caleb Balich top scoring with 31 runs each.

Jon Hinrichsen scored 24 off 21 balls batting at number 10.

Erlank took four for 58 in 17 and Luke Schlemmer took four for 42 in 10.2 overs.

The Tuskers were set a target of 334 runs to win.

Kok and Molefe were again on fire, taking 10 wickets between them in 43 overs to give the Rhinos the win.

Andile Mokgakane scored 49 for the Tuskers but there were no decent partnerships made.

Kok took seven for 81 in 22 and Molefe took three for 84 in 21.

Despite the 25.68 points earned from the match, the Rhinos remain bottom of the division 2 log table.

The Rhinos will face the log leaders, the Northern Cape Heat, at the Diamond Oval in Kimberley from March 3 to 6.