Cape Town - Half-centuries by Gihahn Cloete and Yaseen Vallie put the Warriors in a strong position after the opening day of their big Sunfoil Series tussle with the Titans at Buffalo Park in East London on Thursday.

When bad light stopped play with 30 overs remaining, the hosts had progressed to 203 for four after winning the toss and opting to bat first against the log leaders.

Cloete led the way with 83 (137 balls, 14 fours, 1 six), while Vallie carried the home side forward with his unbeaten 68 (160 balls, 7 fours) during the latter part of the day.

It was a solid return for the third-placed Warriors as they look to try and close the gap on the Titans.

But they did not have things all their own way, having slumped to 21 for two early on after the dismissals of Eddie Moore (12) and Colin Ackermann (0) to Chris Morris (1/26) and Junior Dala (2/44) respectively.

Cloete and Vallie then rebuilt with a 126-run third wicket stand that took them to 147, before the former fell to Dala followed by Shaun von Berg (1/55) accounting for Lesiba Ngoepe (three).

Captain Jon-Jon Smuts, though, steadied the ship with his 36 not out to help Vallie take their side to stumps in a solid position – their unbroken stand worth 52.