Ken Borland

The hesitant, flatfooted Unlimited Titans batsmen succumbed meekly on the third day as the bizhub Highveld Lions beat them by eight wickets in their Sunfoil Series match at the BidVest Wanderers Stadium on Saturday.

The Lions batsmen kept their cool far better on a tricky Wanderers pitch, posting 212 in their first innings to claim a 65-run lead, and then bowling the Titans out for a meagre 110 in their second innings on Saturday.

That left the southern Gauteng team with a target of just 46 for victory and they knocked those runs off for the loss of two wickets in just 9.5 overs, captain Stephen Cook scoring 29 not out.

The gentle medium-pace of Brett Pelser was once again the undoing of the Titans as the all-rounder claimed three for 16 in 9.2 overs for superb match figures of seven for 44.

Were it not for the fine resistance offered by Farhaan Behardien, who scored 63, the Titans would have been seen off a long time before the eventual finish two minutes before the scheduled lunch break.

The technically poor Titans batsmen were obviously poorly equipped to handle a probing, disciplined Lions attack, in which left-armer Cliffe Deacon claimed three for 30 on Saturday, for six wickets in the match, and Hardus Viljoen took two for 19.

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Bowlers continued to have a party on a lively Wanderers pitch yesterday as 11 wickets fell on the second day of the Sunfoil Series match, but the poor efforts of the Unlimited Titans batsmen has left them facing the gloomiest of prospects in terms of the match situation against the Highveld Lions.

The Titans staggered to 62 for five in their second innings at stumps, still three runs behind with only five wickets in hand.

The Titans began their second innings 65 runs in arrears after a reasonable bowling performance, but their batsmen were deep in trouble again almost from the outset as Heino Kuhn was run out by the swift Dominic Hendricks for just a single.

The poor footwork that seems like an epidemic in their top-order then saw Cobus Pienaar trapped leg-before by Lonwabo Tsotsobe for 11 and when left-arm swing bowler Cliffe Deacon picked up two wickets in three balls, removing Francois le Clus (12) and Henry Davids (0), the Titans were deep in the mire.

Brett Pelser is no more than medium-pace but is posing a huge threat to the flatfooted Titans batsmen as shown by his figures of four for 28 in the first innings, and he struck in his second over yesterday, taking a fine return catch as Qaasim Adams (5) punched firmly down the ground.

Farhaan Behardien is still at the crease on 28 not out and is due some runs, while Mangaliso Mosehle, averaging just 16.28 in the Sunfoil Series this season, is on one not out.

The Titans lower-order is going to have to produce something spectacular for the visitors to post a threatening target for the Lions, even though the pitch is one on which batsmen never feel in.

While the Titans batsmen are being regularly rolled over – as a unit they have collected just one century and 15 fifties in 69 innings this season – their bowlers continue to make progress and they did well to dismiss the Lions for 212 an hour after lunch.

Although the pressure on the batsmen was periodically being released by a loose delivery, the Titans attack restricted the Lions to a lead that should have been manageable given that the home side is going to have to bat last on a pitch of uneven bounce.

The Lions resumed on 109 for four and although Thami Tsolekile was quickly removed by David Wiese for 7, the Titans were held up by veteran Neil McKenzie and all-rounder Pelser, who added 57 in two hours.

The Lions held the initiative on 173 for five at lunch, but two balls into the second session, McKenzie (48) pushed firmly at a Wiese delivery that shaped away and wicketkeeper Mosehle claimed the catch.

Pelser was sent on his way for 35 in the next over, edging CJ de Villiers into the slips, and Wiese and leg-spinner Shaun von Berg then wrapped up the tail.

Wiese was the best Titans bowler on show, taking three for 46 in 22 overs, while 19-year-old left-armer Vincent Moore suggested that he can be a bowler to rely on in the future with three for 41.

But the Titans were on the back foot just three overs into their second innings as Kuhn pushed Tsotsobe away on the off side and hesitated over a single, fatally as Hendricks was on target with his throw.

Deacon and Tsotsobe then blew away the rest of the top-order to have the Titans on their knees heading into the third day.

Vincent Moore, the 19-year-old paceman playing just his second Sunfoil Series match, was the leader of the Titans yesterday as he bowled them back into the game against the Highveld Lions at the Wanderers.

Moore, a left-armer, claimed three for 21 in eight overs to reduce the Lions to 109 for four at stumps, in reply to the inadequate Titans first innings of 147 all out.

The Titans had won the toss and elected to bat first and it looked an apt decision in the first 40 minutes as openers Heino Kuhn and Francois le Clus added 33.

But the admirable Lions attack then found the right lengths on a pitch that provided consistent movement but not such consistent bounce, medium-pacer Brett Pelser having by far his most successful day in franchise cricket with the ball as he claimed four for 28 in 15 overs.

The lively pitch ensured the Lions’ reply would be anything but dull and their batsmen also found it tough to stay in for a long time. Dominic Hendricks (21), Temba Bavuma (25) and Devon Conway (27) all played some sparkling strokes before being dismissed.

By stumps the decision to bat first was once again looking a reasonable one, with the uneven bounce suggesting batting last will be a tough task.

Qaasim Adams, the Titans’ import from the Western Cape, showed the stoutest resistance of all the batsmen, occupying the crease for two-and-a-half hours and only playing at what he had to on his way to 59, his first half-century for his new franchise.

Lions captain Stephen Cook was caught behind off CJ de Villiers for a duck, sparring outside off stump, before Moore entered the fray with an impressive opening spell of two for 20 in six overs.

Keeping the ball in the channel around off stump, he bowled at a lively pace and removed Bavuma, who had looked comfortable until then, in his second over.

Moore jagged a delivery back into the little right-hander, cutting him in two and getting the inside edge for Mangaliso Mosehle to claim his second catch.

Hendricks is lethal when given any width, so Moore kept a tight line to him and the talented left-hander eventually shouldered arms to a straight one and was bowled.

Moore then returned for a couple of overs just before stumps and removed Conway, edging a loose slash just outside off stump.

Neil McKenzie is obviously a key man for the Lions now, having batted in typically unflustered fashion to reach 30 not out.

Thami Tsolekile, released from the national squad, is with him on one not out.

Moore has given the Titans a window of opportunity to escape from the poor position their incompetent batting had seemingly condemned them to being imprisoned in for the rest of this match.

Top-order star Jacques Rudolph will be playing his long-form cricket away from South Africa in the foreseeable future as the Titans batsman confirmed yesterday that he will not be available for the remainder of the Sunfoil Series.

Rudolph, who has scored a busload of runs for the Titans in four-day cricket – 3003 at an average of 49.22 with eight centuries and 16 half-centuries – will be returning to county cricket in a couple of months.

The left-hander will be carrying the responsibility of being Glamorgan’s overseas pro and he told The Pretoria News that his body just could not take the strain of playing cricket all year round.

“I have struggled from previous experiences playing full seasons abroad and at home. I want to arrive mentally fresh because the workload in county cricket is far more than in South Africa,” the 32-year-old said.

“That’s why I made myself unavailable from the start of the season already, committing to only five Sunfoil Series games for the Titans at the start of the season. It’s certainly not a retirement from four-day cricket, but a move to manage my mind and body more efficiently. It is very difficult to play all year.”

Before there are protestors banging on the gates of SuperSport Park, Rudolph will return to the franchise next summer and, although his focus will be on the limited-overs game, he has an open mind about playing four-day cricket too.

“I will have communications with Rob [coach Rob Walter] during the county season. I would still like to throw my name in the hat in regards to one-day cricket in South Africa. And if I don’t play four-day cricket here next season, I would like to assist the younger players where possible,” Rudolph said.

The Titans are certainly going to miss their most experienced, successful batsman as they look to recover from a poor start in this season’s Sunfoil Series, but Rudolph’s absence does allow Heino Kuhn to stamp his mark as a senior player and the likes of Francois le Clus to develop his talent.

“Jacques has been an integral part of the Titans’ successes in the past and to lose him, albeit just for the rest of this season’s four-day campaign, will obviously impact the team. But that said, it also provides an opportunity for our younger players to step up and fill the space that Jacques leaves.

“He remains an integral member of the Titans set-up and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future,” Walter said.