Ken Borland

Jacques Kallis is not about to sign for the Unlimited Titans and weekend rumours that the cancellation of his long-term relationship with the Cape Cobras is imminent have been described as “very premature speculation” by Titans chief executive Jacques Faul.

Weekend reports suggested that the Titans could well be enjoying the services of Kallis next season, but Faul told The Pretoria News that these reports were based on nothing more than just a suggestion made in connection with a new commercial product the franchise are launching.

“One of the commercial sponsorship products we are looking at is a thing called The Art of Fast Bowling and, in our discussions with people like Kallis and Dale Steyn and their representatives, it was mentioned that it might provide the opportunity for big-name players to play here.

“But we haven’t even got sponsors confirmed yet so it’s very premature speculation,” Faul said.

As a nationally-contracted player, Kallis is allowed to nominate which franchise he wants to represent and the Cape still holds the most obvious attractions for him. The great all-rounder has lived his whole life there, his best friends live there and the Cobras have qualified for the Champions League T20 while the Titans have not.

The Art of Fast Bowling will be a series of masterclasses and speaking breakfasts hosted by some of the biggest names in South African cricket, which the Titans will market and sell.

It took the Unlimited Titans until 5.25pm on the final day but they eventually sealed a thrilling 32-run victory over the Knights in their Sunfoil Series match at SuperSport Park in Centurion yesterday.

A lunchtime rain shower, an extraordinary partnership by centurions Gihahn Cloete and Rilee Rossouw, and a plucky last-wicket stand all caused delays, but it was ultimately the second new ball in the hands of David Wiese (four for 55) and Marchant de Lange (three for 72) that won the day for the Titans.

Much credit, however, must go to the Knights. They were eventually bowled out for 402 to record the highest ever fourth-innings total in four-day franchise cricket.

While Cloete and Rossouw were adding 209 for the second wicket in just three hours, it seemed as if the Knights would storm to their unlikely target of 435. But in the midst of a thorough caning on a pitch that had flattened out beautifully for batting, paceman JP de Villiers made two vital breakthroughs either side of tea to remove Rossouw for 127 and Cloete for 129.

It allowed De Lange and Wiese to take the second new ball against new batsmen and they responded with a devastating burst of six wickets in nine overs to bring a Titans victory back into the equation.

Rossouw had earlier played a great innings to make a highly unlikely Knights victory the odds-on favourite. Given a wonderful platform by openers Cloete and Reeza Hendricks (46), who added 89 for the first wicket, he bludgeoned a 108-ball century which included five sixes.

Another of the new generation of batsmen pushing for international recognition, he has now passed 50 five times this season in scoring 621 runs at an average of 47.76.

Cloete has no international aspirations at the moment as he just tries to keep his place in the Knights team, and his wonderful innings was not only his best this season, beating a lowly 33, but a career-best.

But even given the total dominance they showed, chasing 435 on the final day remains one of those flights of fancy that is extremely rarely attained, even though the game today is so biased towards batsmen.

The skiddy De Villiers had Rossouw caught slicing a lofted drive over the covers and then bowled Cloete as he tried to pull a delivery that was too full.

De Lange struck with his fourth delivery with the second new ball as Rudi Second (11) mistimed a pull to square-leg and the fast bowler removed Obus Pienaar (6) in his next over with a brutish lifter that was well-claimed by Qaasim Adams running back from point.

Wiese then got in on the act as he had Gerhardt Abrahams (5) caught behind and then removed Johan van der Wath (0) and Quinton Friend (6) in the space of three balls.

The key scalp of the experienced Werner Coetsee (4) fell to the fired-up De Lange, the batsman unable to deal with another sharp lifter, and the Titans looked sure winners with the Knights 359 for nine.

But the spellbinding game took another turn as the last-wicket pair of Malusi Siboto (26*) and Corne Dry (19), both of whom clearly know how to wield the bat, belted 43 runs off the next 6.4 overs.

The end finally came as the impressive Wiese bowled the perfect ball, back-of-a-length with bounce and some away movement, and found the edge of Dry’s bat for a regulation caught behind and the Titans’ second victory of the campaign.

The narrow defeat is particularly hard on the valiant Knights, who now go into the final weekend of matches 19 points behind the Cape Cobras and clinging to the slimmest of hopes of taking the title off the defending champions.

Qaasim Adams and Mangaliso Mosehle scored half-centuries and led the Unlimited Titans to a commanding position on the third day of their Sunfoil Series match against the Knights at SuperSport Park in Centurion on Saturday.

Adams and Mosehle added 105 for the fifth wicket, in just over two hours and off 163 balls, and allowed the Titans to declare their second innings on 286 for seven midway through the final session.

The Titans began the third day by wrapping up the Knights first innings for 218, Marchant de Lange having Werner Coetsee (57) and Corne Dry (1) caught behind the wicket in the space of 17 balls, giving them a first-innings lead of 148.

That meant the Knights were left with a daunting target of 435 for victory and they had reached 32 without loss when bad light stopped play with six overs left to be bowled. Openers Reeza Hendricks (16*) and Gihahn Cloete (15*) had done a good job in surviving for close to an hour.

Adams was the star of the day in scoring 84, starting his innings patiently as he came in with the Titans in danger of a wobble on 72 for three.

But by midway through the afternoon, he was bristling with intent as he collected 10 fours and two sixes in setting up the declaration. He was involved in a tremendous tussle with fiery Knights fast bowler Johan van der Wath, which required the intervention of the umpires at one stage, and it was the veteran who eventually removed him.

The left-handed Adams had started his innings relying on clever deflections for runs, but by the end he was unselfishly freeing his arms and hitting out and the slow pitch which has been the bane of strokeplay throughout the game eventually proved his undoing as he failed to clear deep mid-on with a lofted drive.

The Knights were battered by Adams and were run off their feet by Mosehle, who scored a sprightly 56 off 79 balls.

The wicketkeeper/batsman’s innings was also crucial as the Titans were in danger of wasting their first-innings advantage when he came to the crease on 106 for four, the lead being 254.

Titans openers Heino Kuhn and Ernest Kemm were both dismissed for eight, bowled by Van der Wath and caught in the slips off Corne Dry respectively, but captain Henry Davids (33) and Roelof van der Merwe (29) then set about the bowling in positive fashion.

Both were well set to completely take the game away from the Knights, but both contrived to get themselves out in rather soft fashion.

Van der Merwe skewed an ambitious drive on the up off Dry to mid-on, while Davids skied a shortish ball from Malusi Siboto straight to fine leg.

With the log-leading Cape Cobras needing eight wickets on the final day to beat the Warriors, the Knights, already trailing by 9.08 points, are going to have to produce something special to stay in contention for the title. They will need to score another 403 runs in 96 overs today to beat the Titans and stay in touch with the defending champions.

Leg-spinner Shaun von Berg ensured that his name will be mentioned more often in future national selection meetings as his three-wicket burst put the Unlimited Titans in control of their Sunfoil Series match against the Knights at SuperSport Park in Centurion yesterday.

After David Wiese (45) and JP de Villiers (59) stretched the Titans first innings to 366, Von Berg claimed three for 10 in his first eight overs as the Knights limped to 212 for eight at stumps, which came with 18 overs left to be bowled due to bad light.

The Titans resumed yesterday morning on 268 for seven, and Wiese and De Villiers ensured they converted a good first day into a meaningful total with an eighth-wicket stand of 81 lasting exactly 100 minutes.

The home side batted through to the brink of lunch, leaving the Knights with three overs to survive before the break, which they did in reaching 11 without loss.

But with Reeza Hendricks (3) lasting just two balls in the second session before edging an away-swinger from Wiese into the slips, the Knights were under pressure from the start of the afternoon session.

Wiese again found swing to bowl Gihahn Cloete through the gate for 12 and Rilee Rossouw (23), having taken four successive fours off Marchant de Lange’s previous over, then edged the fast bowler low to Roelof van der Merwe at third slip in a thrilling passage of play.

Von Berg then took centre-stage in another proof that the hours of work he has put in in the nets are paying off as he ripped through the middle-order.

He landed his first delivery perfectly and it went straight on to trap Obus Pienaar lbw for 14 and he then outfoxed Rudi Second, inducing a return catch, to remove a batsman who had looked capable of causing a few hours of trouble for the Titans as he breezed to 38.

Von Berg’s fortunes changed, however, in the last one-and-a-half hours of play as Werner Coetsee took control.

The 27-year-old returned to the attack straight after tea, changing to the West Lane End, and an inspired piece of bowling saw him rip a delivery across Gerhardt Abrahams (26) and into his off stump in his first over back.

That gave Von Berg figures of 8-3-10-3, but Coetsee ensured 45 runs would come from his last five overs yesterday as he raced to 57 not out off 61 balls.

But the 31-year-old Coetsee was fighting a largely lone battle, with De Villiers removing both Johan van der Wath (10) and Quinton Friend (2) in the 45^th over, in an excellent second spell.