Ken Borland

Titans batsmen Aiden Markram and Dayyaan Galiem came out after tea and sat in the dugout patiently waiting for the umpires to restart play on the second day of their Four-Day Franchise match against the Imperial Lions at the Wanderers on Wednesday, but it never happened as bad light prevented any further play.

With the morning being more suited to canoeing than cricket, play only got underway at 11.30am on Wednesday and then the rain returned at the tea break as only 200 minutes of action were possible on the second day.

The reason for Markram and Galiem’s eagerness to get back out on the park was because, at 169 for five, the Titans are just 24 runs short of ensuring they have enough bonus points to secure their place in the final next week, regardless of what happens in the Warriors match against the Dolphins.

Markram once again stood tall with the bat, scoring a wonderfully defiant 85 not out as Kagiso Rabada hollowed out the Titans innings with four for 32 in 18 overs.

Fellow fast bowler Lutho Sipamla claimed the other wicket to fall as he had Quinton de Kock caught in the slips, the left-hander having used his tree trunk bat to collect four fours in his 18.

The other notable action involving Proteas was when Rassie van der Dussen dropped Sibonelo Makhanya at first slip off Wiaan Mulder before he had scored; he went on to make 23. In the next over, with Markram on 59, Van der Dussen missed another chance off Rabada, which had the cellphones in the media centre abuzz with social media comments.

It got worse for the Lions when Reeza Hendricks dived across from second slip to catch Markram off Beuran Hendricks on 68, only for the left-arm paceman to have bowled a tight no-ball.

*At Newlands, the Knights must be heartily sick of the sight of opening batsman Pieter Malan, who has batted for 490 minutes and almost certainly dashed their final hopes.

Malan finished the second day on an epic 195 not out, steering the Cape Cobras to 382 for three, a lead of 201 runs.

Zubayr Hamza (86) and Kyle Verreynne (74*) helped plunder the Knights attack.

*St George’s Park is often one of the trickier destinations to go to, but the Dolphins have not only all but assured themselves of a place in the final but look almost certain to host it in Durban, as they dominated the second day against the Warriors.

Khaya Zondo led the way with a composed 111, a quality knock featuring 15 fours and three sixes to lift the Dolphins to 358, a first-innings lead of 234.

Zondo came to the crease on 107 for three with the dismissal of Senuran Muthusamy for 52, and had to stabilise matters after the visitors slipped to 194 for seven.

Keshav Maharaj once again shone with the bat, stroking 66 with 10 fours, as they added 132 for the eighth wicket.

The Warriors reached stumps on 88 without loss, with Ed Moore on 42* and Gihahn Cloete 39*.

The Titans bowling attack might have been figuratively armed with water pistols for most of last season, but Dayyaan Galiem and his swing bowling was the exception as the all-rounder brought an exciting new dimension to the team in his first season after moving from the Cape.

Galiem was their leading four-day wicket-taker last season with 21 scalps, while he also took 11 Momentum One-Day Cup wickets, second only to spinner Imraan Manack. Add in 310 four-day runs at an average of 25.83 with two half-centuries and the 23-year-old was a worthy recipient of the Titans’ First-Class Player of the Season, Newcomer, and Player of the Year awards on Thursday night.

“I was very surprised to be given the new ball and to become one of the leaders of the attack, but I loved the challenge. I prefer the new ball because it moves around a bit more, although there is pressure that comes with that. I learnt how to control the ball better and the more confidence you have, the more you can show your skill. I do regard myself as a swing bowler, but I would also like to improve my pace.

“I was working on getting more energy on the ball and trying to get it to swing later, and I found that once I got my speed up and hit the deck hard then I was getting late swing, which makes it more challenging for the batsmen. When you’re not confident and not sure where the ball is going, then you tend to just stick to one thing, but the more situations I’m in, the more I learn and the better I can deal with them,” Galiem told Saturday Citizen on Friday.

Nobody can be sure who first coined the phrase that partnerships win matches, but in terms of his batting, Galiem is not satisfied to have merely contributed to some crucial lower-order stands and next season he wants to go big.

“Batting was more of a challenge, just adapting to the level of cricket because I played just the one four-day game for the Cobras before coming to the Titans. I had a lot of starts, some good partnerships, a couple of big ones. But I would like to kick on and get hundreds, going into next season I want to improve my batting a lot and score big hundreds.

“I’m happy with how my first season went, but I was not satisfied with my batting and I know I can do better. I want to be more consistent with the bat and score bigger runs. I was really happy with my bowling but I also want to have more consistency of intensity with the ball, bowl better spells and trouble the batsmen for longer periods,” Galiem said.

It is hard to believe that the youngster who arrived at Centurion as a highly-rated all-rounder but with little franchise experience behind him, is now the collector of three Titans awards including the biggest of the lot. But Galiem clearly has the talent and belief to make sure his move to the Titans continues to be a huge success.

“When I came into the side I was a bit worried about performing, I had the pressure of coming from a different province and wanting to do well. I felt I had a lot to prove, but the guys were very welcoming, they made it a lot easier and I felt part of the team immediately, so big thanks to them. Obviously it was still nervewracking though and hopefully I will just get better and better now.

“I feel like my game has improved a lot. But when I arrived I just hoped for an opportunity. I believed in myself and I learnt patience from playing three-day cricket. I was very nervous at the start and I felt nervous every game. But I just tried to keep things simple, do the basics for a long period of time and it worked out. Cricket seems so complicated but the team that does the simple things best usually comes out on top,” Galiem said.