Ken Borland

The Dolphins won their virtual eliminator against the Unlimited Titans at SuperSport Park by three wickets, but not before an inspired attack had given them a major scare.

The Lions were always in control of their match against the Chevrolet Knights in Bloemfontein, although the home side made them work hard for victory as they batted for 98.4 overs in their second innings, eventually being dismissed for 289. That left the Lions with a target of just 97 for victory, and openers Stephen Cook and Rassie van der Dussen knocked off the runs at a canter, winning by 10 wickets in just 14.3 overs.

The Dolphins began their second innings on the final day in Centurion, needing just 177 runs for victory, but the Titans attack were certainly up for the challenge and the inconsistent bounce of the pitch certainly made the target a testing one.

The Dolphins openers, Divan van Wyk (2) and Imraan Khan (8) were both dismissed inside the first five overs as the visitors crashed to 10 for two.

Khaya Zondo and Cody Chetty briefly steadied the ship as they took the total to 55 before Chetty (20) let his side down with an awful waft outside off stump as Marchant de Lange returned for a fiery second spell and was definitely threatening life and limb.

Left-armer Rowan Richards was merrily swinging the ball from the Hennops River End and added to the chaos with the wickets of Zondo (15), Daryn Smit (2) and Andile Phehlukwayo (0), and suddenly the Dolphins were 58 for six.

But captain Morne van Wyk and Calvin Savage then produced the key partnership as they added 116 in 146 minutes, off 238 balls.

It was a stand of enormous skill and character on a tricky pitch. While such heroics can be expected from the veteran Van Wyk, whose 59 not out was his 28^th Sunfoil Series half-century, Savage’s 53 was an exceptional effort by a 22-year-old playing in just his ninth four-day game.

Savage first of all blocked up his end, scoring just 15 runs from his first 77 balls, before defiantly striking five fours and a six as he and Van Wyk all but sealed victory.

Savage fell with just three more runs needed for victory, dismissed by De Lange, who finished with three for 66 in 18 overs, to go with the four for 68 he took in the first innings.

Richards was the pick of the Titans attack, with three for 35 in 17.3 overs.

The victory lifts the Dolphins to 98.26 points, while the Lions are at the top of the log with 115.84. Defeat has left the Titans clutching at straws on 84.90 points.

In Bloemfontein, the Johannesburg-based franchise claimed two Knights wickets in the opening hour as the home side went from 76 without loss overnight to 95 for two with the dismissal of Gihahn Cloete (37) and Tumelo Bodibe (4).

But Reeza Hendricks showed that he is ready for more international cricket as he grafted his way to 61, Rudi Second was similarly determined in scoring 67, and Patrick Botha motored to 42 to take the Knights to 218 for three before the wheels fell off.

The Lions were once again able to show what a tight bowling unit they are as Kagiso Rabada took three for 52, Chris Morris and Hardus Viljoen claimed a couple of wickets each and Dwaine Pretorius wrapped up the tail, the last seven wickets falling for 71 runs.

Having finished just short of an almost identical target last week against the Warriors, this time the Lions did not allow rain or bad light to have any chance of denying them as Cook powered to 49 not out off 34 balls and Van der Dussen struck 46 not out off 55 deliveries.

The third match of the weekend, between the Nashua Cape Cobras and the Chevrolet Warriors, ended in the dullest of draws at Newlands in Cape Town.

The Warriors deserve credit, however, for batting through most of the final day and scoring 256 for three to all but clear the first-innings deficit of 257.

The visitors were 88 without loss overnight and the opening stand grew to 155 as David White scored 57 and Michael Price 94. Colin Ackermann then came in and continued the good work with 53 not out.

Robin Peterson was the only successful Cobras bowler on the final day, the left-arm spinner taking three for 65 in 32.1 overs.

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Fellow South African Jacques Blaauw had earlier blazed his way to a nine-under-par 61 that featured four successive birdies from the sixth hole and two-in-a-row to finish, to post the number – 13-under-par – that Coetzee had to beat.

But Coetzee, having started playing golf at Pretoria Country Club and winning his first tournament there when he was 10, knows all the secrets of the Waterkloof parklands course and he knew patience and sticking to his game plan would eventually pay dividends.

He systematically went through the first five holes in par and then claimed his first birdie at the par-four sixth after a monster drive to just in front of the green. Writing three successive birdies on his card from the eighth hole allowed the 28-year-old to catch Blaauw on 13-under. Then it was just a matter of waiting for one more birdie; it eventually came on the penultimate hole, by which time a lesser golfer may have become impatient.

“I’ve played those first three holes a thousand times and they’re probably the trickiest on the course, and then the fourth they made a par-four this week. So that’s not where I wanted to make my charge, it’s easy to drop shots there, but I knew when I stepped on to the sixth tee that it was time,” Coetzee said.

“Jacques put me under a lot of pressure and there were other guys racing out of the blocks as well. But I had a good game plan mentally and it was just a matter of playing my game and waiting for my birdies to come. Towards the end, I was waiting for 17, which is usually a birdie chance, and the 65 I shot today was the round I’ve been looking to play, it was controlled and how I wanted the day to play out,” Coetzee said.

Coetzee had started the day tied for the lead with five other golfers – fellow South Africans Trevor Fisher Junior and Wallie Coetsee, Englishman David Horsey, Scotland’s Craig Lee and Spaniard Adrian Otaegui.

But it all turned sour for those contenders, none of them being able to break par.

Although Coetzee said before the tournament that the 6459-metre course redesigned by Gary Player in 2004 was not exactly up his street, his delight at winning his second European Tour title at his home club was obvious.

“I loved the fans, when I was growing up you dream about playing in front of galleries like that and the crowd just seemed to get bigger and bigger. There were hundreds of people following our group and I recognised a lot of them. I never thought, as a kid, that I’d be playing a European Tour event at my home club, so it’s unreal to win here,” Coetzee said.

His previous European Tour title was won in Johannesburg 13 months ago, and he has four other Sunshine Tour wins. But this was achieved in different fashion and Coetzee was especially pleased with that.

“In the Joburg Open win, I was behind on the front nine and then ahead on the back nine, so it went from being aggressive to being conservative. Today I had to mix aggression with cleverness and it was nice to make a birdie to win. Most of my previous wins have come from putting very well, but I’m very happy to have my ball-striking come through today. I’m loving my driver,” Coetzee said.

And with good reason because he hit 13 of 14 fairways off the tee in the final round and gave himself several looks at birdie on the back nine. But as the number of holes left diminished, so thoughts turned to whether Coetzee would finally make birdie or push too hard and end up dropping a shot.

Lee, playing in the final two-ball, was just one shot behind but he would drop a crucial shot on the 15^th when his drive went too far right on to a bank, from where he had to lay up before the stream crossing the fairway and then missed a 10-foot putt for par.

That meant it was all up to Coetzee to overtake Blaauw.

His drive on 17 went off to the right, into some trees short of the bunkers guarding the green. But the benefits of playing on his home course once again came to the fore.

“It didn’t happen exactly how I wanted, but I know there are gaps between the bunkers there,” Coetzee said after he had played a lovely, delicate chip to within five feet of the hole to set up the birdie that won the Tshwane Open.

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Elgar scored a defiant 122 that carried the Titans to 261 all out in their second innings, but that leaves the Dolphins with just 177 to score on the final day for a win that would keep their title hopes alive but will all but eliminate the North-Eastern Gauteng side from contention.

The national opener and fellow left-hander Qaasim Adams added 138 for the fifth wicket and seemed to have given the Titans a good chance of setting the Dolphins a daunting target on a pitch that is offering both steep bounce from a length and some deliveries keeping low.

But the lanky Calvin Savage ended Adams’ brilliant counter-attacking 72 when he had him caught behind in the eighth over after tea and then added the important scalp of David Wiese, also caught by wicketkeeper Morne van Wyk, for a duck.

Mangaliso Mosehle also failed to score, Mathew Pillans bowling him fourth ball, and left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj trapped Marchant de Lange lbw for six.

The Dolphins pacemen are all tall, strong lads who hit the deck hard, which is ideal for a pitch with inconsistent bounce, but it was leg-spinner Daryn Smit who eventually removed Elgar, trapping him lbw after a 343-minute stay that just proved the mental strength of the 27-year-old.

*The bizhub Highveld Lions, who lead the competition by 17.24 points with two rounds left after this weekend, are in a strong position heading into the final day of their match against the Chevrolet Knights in Bloemfontein.

The Knights are 76 without loss in their second innings, but they still trail by 117 runs after the Lions scored 441 in their first innings.

The Lions were unable to separate openers Gihahn Cloete (33*) and Reeza Hendricks (38*) in the 27 overs before stumps, but the Knights will nevertheless be up against it in trying to survive against the attack that has earned the most bowling bonus points this season.

The Lions total was built around a punchy century by Neil McKenzie (108), with Thami Tsolekile scoring 48 as they took their fifth-wicket partnership to 85, before off-spinner Werner Coetsee (five for 78) and paceman Duanne Olivier (four for 94) counter-punched for the Knights.

*In Cape Town, Omphile Ramela celebrated his 27th birthday by batting for 403 minutes and posting his first Sunfoil Series century, his monumental 129 leading the Nashua Cape Cobras to 545 all out against the Chevrolet Warriors.

The visitors are in serious trouble with a first-innings deficit of 257, but openers David White (20*) and Michael Price (58*) played with a gravitas suiting the situation as they took the Warriors to 88 without loss at stumps.

Justin Ontong (82) and Justin Kemp (73) were the other main run-getters for the Cobras on the third day.

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