Northerns Titans opener Jacques Rudolph produced a career-best innings of 144 as his side finished the first day of their SuperSport Series Super Eight match against Easterns with a total of 362 for six.

Rudolph claimed his third first-class century, and his second of the season, off 269 balls. It included 18 fours and two sixes. His previous best in the competition was 141 against Boland, also coming at SuperSport Park.

Rudolph survived being dropped by Pierre de Bruyn shortly after reaching his century, and with Northerns on 204 for three. But he was eventually run out when he failed to heed a call from batting partner Dirkie de Vos.

Dirkie De Vos, 92 not out, and Alluhadien Palleker, 10 not out, will resume for the hosts on Friday.

The Easterns bowling attack sorely missed the pivotal influence of both Kenny Benjamin and Andre Nel. Benjamin is injured while Nel joins the South African team on the tour of the West Indies.

Both Rudolph and De Vos took full advantage of the lacklustre bowling, combining for a partnership of 117 runs off 162 balls.

De Vos also reached a personal milestone, surpassing his previous first-class best score of 64 scored against Gauteng at the Wanderers two years ago.

Even Steve Elworthy, noted more for his bowling achievements than his batting, seemed inspired by his teammates' performance. He added a useful 20 runs off 21 balls, although his main focus in this is still the six wickets he needs to reach the 400 mark.

© CricInfo Ltd.