Ken Borland

The wonderfully aggressive batting of the Free State Knights, led by Rilee Rossouw’s fiery century and the undimmed class of Farhaan Behardien, took them into the semi-finals of the CSA Provincial T20 Knockout as they beat Western Province by just four runs in Kimberley on Tuesday.

Rossouw added 52 off 32 balls with Jacques Snyman (32) for the second wicket, but when Behardien (57 off 29) came to the crease, the Knights really cut loose as 130 runs were plundered off just 66 balls.

Prodigal son Rossouw reached his fabulous century and then hit the last two balls of the innings off fast bowler Nandre Burger for six to finish with 112 not out off just 55 deliveries, allowing Free State to post a massive 223 for three.

Western Province looked well out of the running as they stumbled to 90 for four at the halfway stage, but captain Wayne Parnell was in belligerent mood and kept them in the battle with the innings of his life.

The left-hander battered 80 not out off just 29 balls and took Migael Pretorius for 24 off the last over as Western Province astonishingly finished just one big blow short.

In the other quarterfinal, Division II SWD would like to allege they are not far off the standard of the first division, but their fielding was appalling and four batsmen were run out as they lost to Northerns Titans.

Donovan Ferreira, an uncontracted 23-year-old, was the mainstay of the Northerns total of 192 for five, finishing with a feisty 55 not out off 29 balls, suggesting he might be the long-awaited replacement for Behardien.

Theunis de Bruyn showed his class at the top of the order with 48 off 33 deliveries, and Sibonelo Makhanya (26 off 18) and Aya Gqamane (21* off 10) supported Ferreira well.

SWD looked in the game while Leus du Plooy was blasting 55 off 33 balls, he and Hanno Kotze putting on 82 off 53 balls for the first wicket.

But three wickets fell in the ninth over of the innings, bowled by cunning left-arm spinner and skipper Aaron Phangiso, including Du Plooy being run out by a fine piece of fielding by Simon Harmer.

The rest of the SWD batting imploded, 10 wickets falling for just 56 runs in 11.4 overs, as the Northerns spinners held sway.

Farhaan Behardien, now playing in the dark blue and orange of the Knights, made just his second 4-Day Domestic Series century at SuperSport Park on Monday, an inspirational effort that put the visitors into a first-innings lead against the Titans in the match-up between the two pool leaders.

Behardien, who starred for the Titans with nine centuries in 98 four-day matches before joining the Bloemfontein side this season, came through a tough morning session in which the Knights had slipped to 49 for three in the first hour. The 37-year-old showed all his experience, determination and skill as he reached stumps on 126 not out, his 233-ball effort leading the Knights to 307 for six at stumps on the second day, already a handy 44 runs in front.

Raynard van Tonder began the fightback for the Knights with his controlled 52, adding 106 for the fourth wicket with Behardien, before Patrick Kruger took control in the afternoon with an aggressive innings of 69 off 99 balls.

Kruger and Behardien added 113 for the fifth wicket and the key partnership was only broken in the third over with the second new ball when Lizaad Williams was fortunate to win an lbw decision against Kruger.

Williams was the best of the Titans bowlers, sharp and consistently asking questions of the batsmen, as he finished the day with three for 63 in 19 overs.

He will need to be as good on the third morning as he was in Monday’s first session if the size of the Knights lead is going to be kept to manageable proportions by the home side.

Jacques Snyman scored the fastest ever franchise four-day century and Matthew Kleinveldt, Raynard van Tonder, Pite van Biljon and Farhaan Behardien also went past fifty as the Knights thoroughly dominated the opening day of the first-class 4-Day Domestic Series match against the Warriors in Bloemfontein on Monday.

Snyman reached three figures off just 71 balls, beating the previous record for fastest four-day century of 73 deliveries set by team-mate Shaun von Berg when he was playing for the Titans. The 26-year-old Snyman also became the first batsman to score a century before lunch on the first day of a franchise four-day match since fellow Free Stater Rilee Rossouw did it in 2010 against the Titans at Centurion.

Rossouw went on to score 319 in that innings, but Snyman’s fun ended at 109 off just 78 balls when he was run out after a terrible mix-up with Kleinveldt.

But their opening stand of 164 in just 28 overs had put the Knights well on the way to their close of play total of 405 for five, against a Warriors side that was thoroughly disrupted by the withdrawal of six players due to two positive Covid tests and other players needing to self-isolate.

Kleinveldt went on to score 73, and Van Tonder (85) and Van Biljon (53) then added 94 for the third wicket, Behardien then ramming home the advantage late in the day with 67 not out.

The Titans have made a good start to the new season with the ball as they restricted the Cape Cobras to 264 for nine declared at Newlands, but the visitors have lost a key wicket as they went to stumps on four for one with Aiden Markram (2) rather bizarrely treading on his own wicket as he jumped back to turn spinner George Linde away on the leg-side.

Linde had earlier shared in the biggest partnership of the Cobras innings, scoring 43 as he and Kyle Verreynne (39) added 69 for the sixth wicket.

Opener Pieter Malan was the top-scorer for the home side with 51, but the Titans kept plugging away with the ball and would have been pleased with their efforts after losing the toss. Former Cobras paceman Lizaad Williams must have enjoyed having a good day against his previous team and took four for 51 on his Titans debut, while spinner Tabraiz Shamsi took three top-order wickets.

The defending champion Imperial Lions made a solid start to their rain-affected match against the Dolphins in Durban, posting 153 for three at stumps. Captain Temba Bavuma (30*) has Ryan Rickelton (15*) for company and they have already added 45 for the fourth wicket. Durban had solid rain over the weekend and play could only get underway after lunch, but Reeza Hendricks played some great strokes as he raced to 76 off 86 deliveries to immediately allow the visitors to settle in at the crease.

Farhaan Behardien has been playing for the Multiply Titans since 2006 and, even if his fortunes at national level have dived, his true value has been recognised by his franchise as he walked away with four trophies at the annual awards evening.

Behardien’s stellar season – he averaged 80 in the Sunfoil Series, 48.55 in the Momentum One-Day Cup and 234 in the RamSlam T20 Challenge – saw him claim the coveted Player of the Year, T20 Player of the Year, the First-Class Player of the Year and the Most Valuable Player of the Year awards.

“It’s something really special and the culmination of 12 years of hard work, a very proud moment for me. The Titans have done really well this season which has given me the platform to perform. Apart from playing a few amateur games for Western Province, I have been a one-club man and I have a passion for the Titans.

“Hopefully I can play for them for a few more years. After 12 years of playing, I kind of feel like I’ve got my doctorate now. Initially I was only able to provide glimpses and I seem to be the guy everyone loves to hate, I’ve been abused a lot. But I’m grateful to the Titans because they stuck with me.

“All that experience has now come together and is building to a head. There has always been some amazing talent at the Titans, and hopefully in a few years people will look back to myself, Heino Kuhn, Albie Morkel, Henry Davids, as being legends for the best franchise in the world. Heino and I are probably the only cricketers in the world to have won 14 domestic trophies,” Behardien said.

In one of the Titans’ greatest seasons, Behardien has been the glue in the middle-order, time and again playing the situation perfectly to be the matchwinner across all three formats.

“I’m strictly a middle-order bat and playing the situation asks tough questions of you but it’s part and parcel of the position I play. You learn to deal with it much better, whatever situation is in front of me, I just try and maximise my runs in however many balls I have. When you have not too long left in your career, you also tend to play with freedom,” Behardien said.

Behardien has lost his national contract and seems to be on the periphery of new Proteas coach Ottis Gibson’s plans, but don’t write off the 34-year-old just yet: his desire to play international cricket is as strong as ever and he remains one of the most successful and consistent batsmen in South African cricket.

“Whatever game is put in front of me, I just try and perform really well. Whenever the Titans have called, in whatever format, all three of them, in different situations, I’ve still managed to produce the goods. So I’ll be disappointed if I no longer get higher honours.

“I would love to go to next year’s World Cup, I can see myself at Lord’s scoring a hundred off 120 balls. That World Cup is a massive ambition of mine because I never played too much of a role in the previous world cups I went to. I would love to be part of that squad, but that’s up to the powers that be,” Behardien said.

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