Ken Borland

Both the Unlimited Titans and the Dolphins will be looking to eat up the points differential between themselves and the log-leading bizhub Highveld Lions, but the losers of their Sunfoil Series match starting at SuperSport Park in Centurion today will almost certainly be out of the running for the title.

The Lions, who play the Chevrolet Knights in Bloemfontein, lead the competition with 96.78 points, with the Dolphins second on 79.54 and the Titans close behind on 77.56 with three rounds remaining.

Titans coach Rob Walter wants his team to gobble up all their chances, something they didn’t do in their previous match, a crucial 170-run defeat at the hands of the Nashua Cape Cobras in Paarl.

“We had them in the first innings but then we weren’t clinical enough at the end to close out the innings. We also batted very well at the start before falling apart, so we need to be mentally stronger and make sure the opposition has to work hard for anything they get,” Walter, who has Marchant de Lange fit again, told The Citizen yesterday.

The Dolphins have pacemen Robbie Frylinck and Craig Alexander fit again, but coach Lance Klusener said they would probably not be assimilated into the team just yet, because he’s looking for more consistency from a side that knocked over the defending champion Cobras by eight wickets at Newlands last weekend.

“We need more consistency, we’ve had some good individual days, but if you can put two good days in a row then you generally win. But we’ve managed to fight our way through to here and we still have a shout,” Klusener said.

The Lions suffered their only defeat in this season’s competition when the Knights beat them by 143 runs in Potchefstroom in October, after leading by 101 runs on first innings but then collapsing to 137 all out to the spin of Werner Coetsee.

“We’ve played some decent cricket, but we have to keep winning, every game is a big game,” Lions coach Geoff Toyana said.

Alviro Petersen is taking a short break to attend a family wedding, Dominic Hendricks returning to take his place, while all-rounder Dwaine Pretorius is back from injury.

The Knights have briefly hit the right notes in the Sunfoil Series, winning their first two games in convincing fashion but failing to add to that.

“There are a couple of critical things we need to get right again. We need to score big runs when the opportunity presents itself: We’ve had 22 scores of more than 30 in the last three games but no centuries. And we need to take our opportunities in the field because we’ve bowled with control,” coach Sarel Cilliers said.

The match between the Cobras and the Chevrolet Warriors at Newlands is all about restoring pride for the home side, who are bottom of the log.

David Miller was able to find the form that eluded him in India as his unbeaten half-century took the Dolphins to a six-run win against the Titans in their RamSlam T20 Challenge match at Centurion on Sunday night.

Miller was able to double his score off his next 10 balls after being dropped on 31, as his brilliant 62 not out off 32 balls carried the Dolphins to 179 for four after they were sent in to bat. The left-hander survived the crucial let-off in the 18^th over as Marchant de Lange put down a comfortable catch at backward point after Miller failed to clear the fielder with a cut off wrist-spinner Tabraiz Shamsi.

Miller then hit Chris Morris for 19 runs in the penultimate over and then belted the hapless De Lange, who conceded 48 runs in three overs, for 14 off the last as he finished with eight fours and two sixes.

It provided the Dolphins with the strong finish they needed after they had slid away in the middle overs, thanks to excellent bowling by Albie Morkel (4-0-28-2) and spinners Shamsi (4-0-31-0) and Henry Davids (3-0-14-1).

The Dolphins had started strongly with Morne van Wyk (41 off 29), Cameron Delport (25 off 18) and Kevin Pietersen (22 off 21) taking them to 88 for one in the 10^th over, but Morkel then dismissed Pietersen to restrict the visitors just as they were gaining dangerous momentum.

Cody Chetty (21 not out off 16) provided able support to Miller in their unbeaten fifth-wicket stand of 63 off 35 balls.

Morkel, having shone with the ball, then so nearly carried the Titans to victory with his blazing 67 off 34 balls, before being run out trying to get back for a second in the final over.

The Dolphins used their spinners well, with Prenelan Subrayen managing to remove the dangerous Quinton de Kock (11) in the second over, before seamer Andile Phehlukwayo removed Grant Mokoena (6) and Heino Kuhn (5) in successive overs to leave the Titans under pressure on 54 for three in the eighth over.

Opener Henry Davids went to 31 off 26 balls before left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj bowled him round his legs and Subrayen then returned to claim the key wickets of Farhaan Behardien (11), Chris Morris (14) and Mangaliso Mosehle (11), the batsmen battling to get after his slow off-spin.

Morkel hit Maharaj for three sixes and two fours as 30 runs came off his last two overs, but Subrayen conceded just five runs in the 18^th over and dismissed Mosehle to finish with four for 22, the third-best T20 figures for the Dolphins and best against the Titans.

Phehlukwayo (4-0-29-2) then bowled an outstanding penultimate over, conceding just four runs to leave Kyle Abbott with 24 runs to protect in the final over.

Titans coach Rob Walter has followed the same route as several other franchise coaches and included some young new faces in his squad for the opening weekend of RamSlam T20 Challenge action, but he says this is purely incidental because he is looking to put his best possible team out on the park for their match against the Dolphins in Centurion on Sunday afternoon.

Off-spinner Ruben Claassen and seamers Sammy Mofokeng and Lungi Ngidi have been called up to the squad, which also includes returning internationals Quinton de Kock, Farhaan Behardien and Chris Morris.

“This is the best team we can choose at the moment and the guys coming in have certainly showed that they have something to offer. The fact that they are young is just incidental. It was very clear in the Momentum One-Day Cup that if we get our skills together in all three disciplines, like we did in the successive bonus-point wins, then it’s difficult to compete with us. But in the rest of the games, some of our skills were only at 30%,” Walter told Saturday Citizen on Friday.

De Kock and Behardien are in fine form right now and will certainly boost the Titans against a star-studded Dolphins team in which David Miller and Kevin Pietersen pose a clear and present danger.

“It’s great to have those guys back, especially after such a successful series. They’re individuals who have done well, they’re in good form and they’ll bring energy and experience to the team.

“We don’t have any special plans for KP … he hasn’t hit many balls in the last couple of months. But the Dolphins are a good all-round team, their batting is probably their strong suit, but Kyle Abbott and Craig Alexander have been bowling pretty well,” Walter added.

Squads

Titans: Henry Davids, Quinton de Kock, Grant Mokoena, Mangaliso Mosehle, Farhaan Behardien, Qaasim Adams, Albie Morkel, Chris Morris, Marchant de Lange, Tabraiz Shamsi, Junior Dala, Heino Kuhn, Ruben Claassen, Lungi Ngidi, Sammy Mofokeng.

Dolphins: Morne van Wyk (captain), Cameron Delport, Cody Chetty, Kevin Pietersen, David Miller, Khaya Zondo, Andile Phehlukwayo, Keshav Maharaj, Kyle Abbott, Ayavuya Myoli, Craig Alexander, Rabian Engelbrecht, Prenelan Subrayen.

Never mind digging themselves into a hole, the Unlimited Titans managed to bowl and misfield their way into a massive ditch as they succumbed to a two-wicket defeat with a ball to spare at the hands of the Eastern Cape Warriors in the Momentum One-Day Cup season-opener at SuperSport Park in Centurion on Friday night.

The Titans had batted well enough after losing the toss, a late surge by Grant Thomson and Qaasim Adams taking them to 327 for four in their 50 overs. But the Warriors chased down a record 354 to win the corresponding fixture last season and the Titans were once again dreadful with the ball, conceding 24 extras, including 17 wides, during the innings.

History looked likely to repeat itself during the second-wicket stand of 133 off 126 balls between Jon-Jon Smuts and Yaseen Vallie, with opener Smuts in complete control as he blazed 101 off just 74 balls with 14 fours and two sixes.

But the game of cricket showed her tendency to turn things on their head as, from 160 for one in the 24^th over, the Warriors slumped to 230 for six in the 41^st as the Titans mounted Operation Fightback.

Smuts had been absolutely clinical in putting away the many loose offerings of the Titans bowlers, but when Ethy Mbhalati finally managed to find a good line just outside off stump, Smuts tried to cut too close to his body and edged through to wicketkeeper Mangaliso Mosehle.

Leg-spinner Shaun von Berg removed Clyde Fortuin for eight and Junior Dala made two important incisions when he had a composed Vallie caught skying a hook for 52 and had Somila Seyibokwe caught at third man for 23.

Captain Henry Davids claimed an important wicket for the Titans when he had the dangerous Christiaan Jonker caught at deep square-leg for 15, Rowan Richards judging a steepler well, and the home side would have thought a required run-rate of 10.50 runs per over would be too much for Simon Harmer and Andrew Birch at number seven and eight in the order.

But both showed enough ability for them to be considered as all-rounders in the future as they lashed 89 off the next 50 balls, the Titans bowlers generally failing to go for the blockhole, as Harmer and Birch swung merrily at length deliveries. Several fielding errors also cost the home side crucial runs, exacerbating the two lives that Smuts had earlier been given on 25 and 55.

The Warriors needed just 14 off the last two overs for another sensational chase at SuperSport Park and victory seemed assured when Birch hit the first ball of the penultimate over, bowled by Dala, for four.

But the unconventional fast bowler provided some hope for the Titans as he trapped Harmer lbw for 42 off 35 balls, Mother Cricket playing her games again as he seemed to edge a delivery angled down the leg-side into his pads.

Only two more runs came off a superb over and left-armer Rowan Richards heightened the drama when he conceded only five runs off the first four balls of the final over, only for Basheer Walters to lash the penultimate ball through extra cover for the winning boundary.

Birch finished with 55 not out, needing only 28 balls for his remarkable innings, which included five fours and three sixes.

The Titans, having been sent in to bat, promoted Mosehle to open the innings with Davids, but the wicketkeeper was kept firmly in his shell by a superb opening spell by Walters, who had him dropped on one.

Birch removed Davids for 20 in the ninth over and Theunis de Bruyn looked in fine form as he breezed to 26 before edging Sisanda Magala into the gloves of wicketkeeper Fortuin.

Mosehle was just beginning to get into his stride when he was bowled by impressive off-spinner Harmer for 49 off 81 deliveries, but Dean Elgar showed fine intuition in terms of shot-selection and placement as he cruised to 57 off 59 balls.

Thomson, making his Momentum One-Day Cup debut at the age of 27, also showed great awareness of the match situation as he was positive from the outset, racing to 50 off 39 balls and finishing with a wonderful 98 not out off 71 balls.

Adams has become the remorseless finisher for the Titans and he did his job again, smashing 65 not out off 39 balls as he and Thomson plundered 119 runs from the last 11.4 overs.

But as well as the Titans batted, they really did not get with the programme in the field and coach Rob Walter will no doubt have cast a thoroughly disapproving eye on the dropped catches and misfields, as well as the bowlers’ tendency to bowl on both sides of the wicket and their poor lengths at the death.