Ken Borland

National call-ups and injuries have caused Unlimited Titans coach Rob Walter to “take a look into the future” in choosing a new-look team for their Sunfoil Series match against the Nashua Mobile Cape Cobras starting at Boland Park in Paarl today.

Farhaan Behardien and Albie Morkel have joined AB de Villiers and Morne Morkel in the national squad for the T20s against Australia starting on Sunday, while a broken finger has caused the withdrawal of all-rounder David Wiese, so effective with the new ball in recent weeks, joining Ethy Mbhalati and Rowan Richards on the sidelines with injuries.

JP de Villiers gets a chance for the Titans after taking 17 wickets in his last 2 first-class matches for Northerns

Walter has called up pacemen JP de Villiers and Marchant de Lange and batsman Graeme van Buuren, while seamer Junior Dala has been signed on loan from the Highveld Lions.

With youngsters like Francois le Clus, Vincent Moore and Mangaliso Mosehle already in the team, Walter said this weekend’s match would provide an insight into the next tier of talent available to the Titans.

“There are seven players unavailable so with all those guys missing, it’s been difficult to make too many changes. But it’s a great opportunity to look at the future of Titans cricket,” Walter told The Pretoria News yesterday.

The challenge of taking on the defending champions – and current log-leaders – at their tricky Paarl venue is a daunting one and the obvious area in which the Titans are going to have to show massive improvement in order to be competitive is in the batting.

“We’ve got to start getting to the situation where the top six are contributing primarily in terms of runs. We’ve bowled particularly well in the last few games, but the batting line-up really needs to step up and show that they are worthy of their reputations,” Walter said.

Adapting to the quirky conditions of Boland Park will also be crucial. Unlike Gauteng, the Western Cape is baking hot and Walter is expecting that to force the groundsman to leave some grass on the pitch.

“It won’t be that quick, but there may be a bit of lateral movement early on and then it will become more up-and-down,” Walter said.

The Cobras are without Robin Peterson, who has a shoulder injury, and new Proteas call-up Beuran Hendricks, but captain Justin Ontong and his kin have depth and, most importantly, they know how to win.

According to Walter, that confident mentality is what his team need to develop.

“The Cobras play four-day cricket especially well and they’re a side that knows how to win. That’s what we need to get and we need to able to get into a scrap for four days. It’s going to be a tough ask, especially in Paarl,” Walter said.

Surprisingly, the Titans are not necessarily going to play the ultimate Bulldog, Roelof van der Merwe in the starting XI. The all-rounder will only get the nod if they play two spinners.

Without Van der Merwe, an already under-pressure batting line-up could see the struggling Mangaliso Mosehle move up to six and leg-spinner Shaun von Berg bat at seven.

Captain Henry Davids is batting number three and says he needs to lead from the front.

“I need to lead from the front and take responsibility, and batting at number three will give me that opportunity,” Davids said.

“We have bowled very well the past two games, but if we want to pressurise the Cobras, we need to compile big totals. Ultimately, our focus during the rest of the four-day competition is to improve our batting.”

Squads

Cape Cobras: Andrew Puttick, Omphile Ramela, Stiaan van Zyl, Justin Ontong, Yaseen Vallie, Dane Vilas, Justin Kemp, Rory Kleinveldt, Dane Piedt, Dane Paterson, Travis Muller.

Titans: Heino Kuhn, Francois le Clus, Henry Davids, Qaasim Adams, Graeme van Buuren, Mangaliso Mosehle, Roelof van der Merwe, Shaun von Berg, JP de Villiers, Vincent Moore, Marchant de Lange, Junior Dala.

Titans coach Rob Walter

“The responsibility is ours to make some hard calls on ourselves in terms of how we play the game,” Unlimited Titans coach Rob Walter said yesterday after his team had suffered another heavy Sunfoil Series defeat, losing by eight wickets to the Highveld Lions at the Wanderers.

“It’s not about pointing fingers, we are all – myself included – equally responsible for what I rate as our most disappointing performance of the season,” the coach said.

While Walter has understandably tried to share the blame around for the defeat, there is no doubt the batsmen were the most culpable as they produced an abject performance in scoring just 147 and 110 in the match.

And although the Wanderers pitch was a tricky one – there was always a bit of movement around and the bounce was uneven – it’s not as if they succumbed to a top-class bowling attack.

The chief destroyer for the Lions was medium-pacer Brett Pelser, who took seven for 44 in the match, far and away his best performance with the ball in franchise cricket.

“It wasn’t a great pitch, but there’s no ways it was a 147/110 wicket. If you watch the dismissals, most of them were due to poor shot selection and not related to the pitch. It was a case of the batsmen not really understanding what’s required to bat for a long period of time. It’s easy to convince yourself that the pitch is so bad, so you end up making a play and getting yourself out,” Walter said.

With the Titans now nearly 30 points off the pace of the log-leading Cape Cobras with just four rounds remaining, the time has probably come for some changes to the team.

Francois le Clus, Henry Davids and Mangaliso Mosehle are all averaging less than 20 with the bat, but the latter two have factors in their favour: Davids is the respected captain, while Mosehle is a fine wicketkeeper and, of course, a Black African. With Ethy Mbhalati out injured, a Titans team without a single Black African would be unacceptable to many.

“We’re certainly nearing the time when some changes are necessary to bring us some fresh ideas and fresh hunger,” Walter conceded.

Graeme van Buuren, who played a key role in the Titans’ amazing Momentum One-Day Cup comeback – it was so extraordinary a movie should be made of it – is one candidate for promotion, while there are other in-form batsmen in provincial cricket like opener Ernest Kemm, Tukkies star Theunis de Bruyn and wicketkeeper/batsman Heinrich Klaasen who are pushing hard for inclusion.

In contrast to the batsmen, the bowlers are in the coach’s good books at the moment. In the absence of Mbhalati, Marchant de Lange and Rowan Richards, they performed manfully in the Lions match.

“The bowling has improved tenfold. To bowl the Lions out of 212 when they were 106 for four was really good, and if we could have set them 180 in the second innings it would have been very interesting,” Walter said.

Unlimited Titans coach Rob Walter yesterday conceded that the right two teams will be competing in the RamSlam T20 Challenge final because his side only showed glimpses of their true ability through the competition.

The Titans were beaten by the David Miller-inspired Dolphins in Thursday night’s qualifying playoff for the final, leaving the KwaZulu-Natal side to take on the Cape Cobras in the final at Newlands on Sunday.

“To sum up our campaign, I would say we showed glimpses of what we can do, but never really put it all together. It was an inconsistent campaign and making the playoff for finishing third was a small reward for the times we did play well,” Walter told The Pretoria News.

“Our skills can be better in everything and you’d hope a team always has that mindset. We were short in all departments and you can’t do things well one day and not the next if you’re going to win competitions. We need to improve our skills and execute them more consistently.”

The Dolphins were sent in to bat and posted a daunting 200 for four in their 20 overs. Their innings was dominated by Miller, who hammered an outrageous 93 not out off just 37 balls.

The Titans had fought back well after a rapid start by Cameron Delport and Morne van Wyk had taken the Dolphins to 50 midway through the seventh over. Their night would have been very different had Miller been given out lbw on five when Albie Morkel, the ball after dismissing Daryn Smit, angled a delivery into the left-hander from around the wicket and struck him on his pads. The ball would clearly have hit the stumps, but umpire Ian Howell ruled not out, presumably believing the ball had struck the batsman just outside off stump.

“The Miller lbw shout was out, but those aren’t given sometimes. It was a big decision in a big game and at 80-5 in the 13^th over, it would have been a different match. But the Dolphins and Cobras playing in the final is a fair reflection of the competition as a whole.

“I think they should use DRS in all televised matches, with one referral. Against the top-quality players you generally only get one chance. But it was an extraordinary innings and at some point you just have to give credit to the batsman. I haven’t seen striking like that for a long time, he didn’t mistime a single ball and it was a serious effort,” Walter said.

Although the Titans bowlers were taken to the cleaners by Miller – most notably Ethy Mbhalati (two overs for 35) and Roelof van der Merwe in an 18^th over that cost 34 runs – Walter said their performances had not been poor.

“I don’t think we bowled badly, it’s just that Miller hit every length and all our slower balls. It’s easy to criticise in retrospect, but sometimes the bowlers just have to go with how they feel on the day.

“And I was proud of the way we batted, it was a bloody good chase. On any other day, Heino Kuhn’s 76 off 39 would have been the stand-out innings and then Mangaliso Mosehle produced a flippen’ awesome cameo at the end [31 off 14].”

But T20 is a school of hard knocks and Walter was left to reflect that “it was a game of very small margins”.

“Losing Albie Morkel and David Wiese back-to-back took the wind out of our sails. Before that the required run-rate was less than 13 and it was game on.”

For Walter, the performances of senior players like Kuhn, Van der Merwe, Farhaan Behardien and the Morkel brothers were positives from the campaign as a whole, and youngsters like Graeme van Buuren and Theunis de Bruyn also produced match-winning showings that they could be proud of.

Lions coach Johan Ackermann has freshened up his team with nine changes to the starting line-up for their Lions Challenge match against the Cheetahs at Ellis Park on Saturday.

The Cheetahs are bringing an injury-hit squad featuring fringe players to Johannesburg and Ackermann will also be fielding several new faces for the Lions’ second game of the season, following their 51-13 victory over Russia last weekend.

But centre Alwyn Hollenbach, who has been mentioned for higher honours, has returned from injury and will provide captain JC Janse van Rensburg with experienced support alongside loose forward Derick Minnie.

Swys du Toit has also been introduced at hooker, with Martin Bezuidenhout, the subject of loan speculation in Cape Town, out of the squad. While the Lions did confirm they are in negotiations with the Stormers over lending the front-ranker to them, Ackermann said the Orkney-born 23-year-old would have been rested this weekend anyway.

“We received a call requesting we loan Martin to the Stormers from February to the end of March and we are busy finalising the details. We should know for sure on Monday,” Lions CEO Manie Booysen said on Friday.

Janse van Rensburg said he expected a tough encounter with the Cheetahs.

“There’s always extra competition against the South African teams, it will be like a derby, hard and tough. The Cheetahs are in the same boat as us, their tight five will also be out to prove themselves, so it will be  as tough as always up front,” he said.

Coach Ackermann has brought Du Toit, two new locks – former Northern Free Stater Gavin Annandale and Hugo Kloppers – and flank Jaco Kriel into the pack, while the Cronje twins, Ross and Guy, will direct affairs from halfback.

Amongst the backs, former Blue Bulls flyhalf Marnitz Boshoff is included at fullback and Ackermann confirmed the 24-year-old is being looked at as a challenger to Andries Coetzee in the number 15 jersey.

“Marnitz played a lot of rugby at fullback for the Blue Bulls U20 side and we want to see how he goes at 15, he is challenging Andries Coetzee. Marnitz can cover flyhalf as well, while Ruhan Nel can also play fullback and Lionel Cronje covers inside centre too,” Ackermann said.

Hollenbach at inside centre and Nel on the right wing are the other changes to the backline and Ackermann said Hollenbach, the former SA U19 star, was eager to get back on to the field after a shoulder injury.

“Alwyn is eager to play, I asked him if he was sure he was 100% ready and he said it’s time to get back on the park, he didn’t want to wait another week,” Ackermann said.

Team: Marnitz Boshoff, Ruhan Nel, Stokkies Hanekom, Alwyn Hollenbach, Anthony Volmink, Guy Cronje, Ross Cronje, Willie Britz, Derick Minnie, Jaco Kriel, Hugo Kloppers, Gavin Annandale, Ruan Dreyer, Swys du Toit, JC Janse van Rensburg. Substitutes – Robbie Coetzee, Jacques van Rooyen, JJ Breet, Claude Tshibidi, Michael Bondesio, Lionel Cronje, Andries Coetzee.