Ken Borland

Exciting prospect Raynard van Tonder was the only batsman to hit the high notes, but his wonderful 81 not out off 57 balls was in vain as his Knights team still went down by 14 runs to the Warriors in their T20 Challenge game at Kingsmead on Thursday.

The result has an important effect on the playoff situation as it means the Titans now have to beat the Dolphins on Friday to progress. If the Titans lose, then the Cape Cobras will qualify if they beat the Imperial Lions with a bonus point.

But the Warriors are in third place with a one-point lead at the moment, while the Knights have been eliminated.

The Knights were chasing 158 for victory but started their innings on a disastrous note as Patrick Kruger was run out by Jon-Jon Smuts without facing a ball.

That brought Van Tonder to the crease and the 22-year-old showed he is improving with every outing as he stroked six fours and three sixes.

But he had little support of note, dominating partnerships of 52 off 41 balls with Matthew Kleinveldt (12) and 40 off 26 deliveries with Shaun von Berg (16).

No-one else reached double figures as the Knights were bowled out for 143.

Seamer Mthiwekhaya Nabe once again shone for the Warriors with an excellent return of three for 19, while there were also fine performances with the ball by fellow pacemen Anrich Nortje (2-17) and Marco Jansen (2-30).

The Warriors were sent in to bat and freeflowing strokeplay by Smuts (33 off 21) and Gihahn Cloete (22 off 20) saw them tear to 53 without loss in the powerplay.

But leg-spinner Von Berg dismissed both of them in the seventh over and thereafter the Warriors relied on Lesiba Ngoepe, who has had a sorry tournament thus far, to take them to a matchwinning total, the left-hander belting 41 off 30 balls to take them to 157 for eight.

Left-arm quick Mbulelo Budaza was bang on target with his cutters and slower balls as he took three for 18 in his four overs and spinners Von Berg (4-0-27-2) and Kleinveldt (3-0-17-2) kept the pressure on the batsmen.

Dolphins spin twins Keshav Maharaj and Prenelan Subrayen destroyed the Imperial Lions, bowling them out for just 110 and clinching a bonus point win that will assure the KZN team of first place on the log and an automatic place in Sunday’s final.

The Lions were chasing 152 for victory, a challenging target on a pitch that was getting slower and slower. But they would never have expected to gift the Dolphins a crucial bonus point and a place in the final as they were bowled out in the last over.

The Lions can only draw level with the Dolphins on the log if they beat the Cape Cobras with a bonus point on Friday, and then the result between the two teams takes preference over run-rate.

Spinners Maharaj and Subrayen opened the bowling and immediately exerted pressure. They returned in the middle overs and had combined figures of four for 28 in their eight overs. Orthodox left-armer Maharaj only conceded 10 runs in his four overs and off-spinner Subrayen took three for 18.

Rassie van der Dussen was the only batsman to briefly break free from the stranglehold, scoring 33 off 29 balls before holing out to a Subrayen delivery that held up in the pitch and turned.

Kagiso Rabada (15) and Aaron Phangiso (16) hit the ball cleanly as they tried to prevent the Dolphins getting the bonus point in a ninth-wicket stand of 27, the biggest partnership of the innings, but they fell 11 runs short.

Seamers Robbie Frylinck and Ottneil Baartman provided excellent support to the spinners as they both took two for 26.

The Lions bowlers were able to continue their impressive form in the competition, restricting the Dolphins to 91 for four in the 15th over, with opener Keegan Petersen scoring a run-a-ball 35.

But the evergreen David Miller was still at the crease and he batted through to the end, belting 56 not out off just 38 balls with some great death batting that took the Dolphins to 151 for four.

Mangaliso Mosehle (18*) shared a vital unbroken partnership of 60 off 37 deliveries with the Proteas star, who showed again that he is one of the best T20 batsmen in the country.

Fast bowlers Rabada (4-0-25-1) and Beuran Hendricks (4-0-22-0) were the best of the Lions bowlers.

Detail for the log

The Dolphins have automatically qualified for the final on Sunday.

The teams that finish second and third on the log will play each other in the playoff on Saturday to decide who the Dolphins’ opposition will be.

If the Titans beat the Dolphins on Friday they will qualify for the playoff. But if they lose, then the Cape Cobras can qualify, depending on the outcome of Thursday’s match between the Knights and Warriors, if they win with a bonus point against the Lions, who are guaranteed second place.

A superb middle-order effort by the Warriors took them from 33 for four to 157 for nine which proved to be enough to beat the much-touted Titans with a bonus point in a shock T20 Challenge result at Kingsmead on Wednesday.

The match appeared to be proceeding according to script for the Titans as they had the Warriors four down after seven overs, Lizaad Williams taking two of the wickets.

But Wihan Lubbe counter-attacked, hitting ace spinner Tabraiz Shamsi for three successive boundaries as he scored 35 off 29 balls to shift the momentum.

The 20-year-old Tristan Stubbs then hammered a pugnacious 44 off 31 balls and Aya Gqamane then punished the Titans bowling at the death in a superb 37 off just 17 deliveries.

Chris Morris was again the most economical Titans bowler, taking two for 26 in his four overs, but everyone else conceded expensive overs which proved crucial as the Titans let things slip when they were in a commanding position.

The Titans have a similarly talented batting line-up but they have failed to really fire in this tournament and they were very disappointing again on Wednesday, limping to 114 for nine.

The Warriors began with spin from both ends and it would have a major impact as both JJ Smuts and Wihan Lubbe took wickets to reduce the Titans to 36 for two inside the first seven overs.

But Aiden Markram scored 31 off 28 balls to take them to 63 for two at the halfway stage, allowing them to have a real push for victory.

But instead the Titans just collapsed in a heap with Mthiwekhaya Nabe ripping through the middle-order in brilliant fashion with four for 21.

Pacemen Marco Jansen (4-0-21-2) and Anrich Nortje (4-0-20-1) were also outstanding.

The Warriors, despite losing their first three matches, have given themselves a chance of making the playoffs, should they beat the Knights on Thursday and the Titans suffer a third successive loss when they play the Dolphins on Friday.

After Sisanda Magala had taken five wickets to demolish the Knights for just 106 all out, the expectation was that the Imperial Lions would go for the bonus point win but their own top-order wobble meant in the end they settled for a comfortable seven-wicket triumph with 11 balls to spare.

The hugely talented Gerald Coetzee (4-1-19-2), playing his first game of the competition, had rocked the Lions with two wickets in his first two overs, leaving them on six for two.

Captain Temba Bavuma then came to the crease to join Reeza Hendricks and he said after the game their approach was to make sure they won the game on a tricky pitch, rather than reach their lowly target inside 16 overs.

That they did with a third-wicket stand of 93, which was ended when Hendricks was run out for a fighting 47.

Bavuma batted on and finished with a composed 53 not out off 47 balls.

The Knights had earlier won the toss and elected to bat first, but their batsmen were all short-lived tenants at the crease in the face of an outstanding bowling display by the Lions.

Magala led the way with superb figures of five for 20, bowling at the stumps and showing plenty of skill as four of his victims were lbw or bowled.

Left-armer Beuran Hendricks (4-0-21-2) was again excellent as he removed both openers, while left-arm spinner Aaron Phangiso (4-0-14-2) gave the Lions a firm grip on the game as he removed Pite van Biljon (15) and Grant Mokoena (8) in the 10^th over to reduce the Knights to 40 for five.

Farhaan Behardien (28) and Ferisco Adams (23) were the only batsmen to cause the Lions even the slightest hassle.

The Lions are now top of the log on run-rate and play the other unbeaten side, the Dolphins, in a crunch encounter on Wednesday afternoon.