Warriors edged in title race
The Titans beat the Knights by four wickets to clinch the Sunfoil Series trophy at SuperSport Park in Centurion yesterday. The home team, faced with an apparently simple target of 110 for victory, had some nervous moments before they finally fell over the line shortly after tea on the final day. The positive result was initially made possible by the decision of the two teams to limit their first innings to 40 overs after the first two days were lost to rain. The Knights were only able to reach 169/7 in their overs while the Titans raced to 269/3. The next big step towards victory was prompted by allrounder Chris Morris, who grabbed a season-best 6/55 in the Knights’ second innings, with the assistance of Malusi Siboto (3/43). The only Knights batsmen to really impress were Rudi Second (76) and David Miller (52), with only two other batsmen reaching double figures. If the Titans thought they would stroll to victory, Marchant de Lange disabused them. The big paceman dismissed opener Andrea Agathangelou, Rivaldo Moonsamy and Farhaan Behardien and it required a quick 43 from Heino Kuhn to take the Titans most of the way to their target. Even so, Duanne Olivier removed Kuhn and Henry Davids and it required Shaun van Berg to belt a four off De Lange to finish the game off. The final result of the Sunfoil Series was tight, with the Titans just pipping the Warriors, who drew against the Dolphins, by 1.52 points.
The Titans, who began the match nearly seven points behind the Eastern Cape franchise, knew they had to win their final match to give themselves a chance of stealing the trophy. In Durban, the match between the Dolphins and the Warriors faded into a dull draw. The visitors achieved the required number of first innings bonus points to clinch the trophy, but they reckoned without the Titans stealing past them. The chances of a positive result were always unlikely after the first two days were lost to rain, and a good Kingsmead pitch made it difficult for either the pace bowlers or the spinners to really penetrate. The Warriors made a positive start when the match eventually started at 12.30pm on Saturday, with Gihahn Cloete striking a scintillating 105 in 92 balls. He was helped by 44 from skipper Jon-Jon Smuts and a debut half-century of promise from 18-year-old Sinethemba Qeshile as the visitors declared on 320/9 yesterday morning. The Dolphins bowlers initially performed poorly, but they improved with Senuran Muthusamy picking up a career best 7/83 with his left-arm spin. When the 23-year-old then added an unbeaten 84 in the Dolphins’ reply of 211, he was chosen as the man of the match. The only other batsman to impress was Dane Vilas, who thrashed 47 in 28 balls. In Centurion, a magnificent double-century opening partnership between Stephen Cook and Reeza Hendricks enabled the Highveld Lions to finish a disappointing Sunfoil Series campaign on a positive note, with a ninewicket win over the Cape Cobras in Potchefstroom.
