Ken Borland

The presence of all four first-choice pace bowlers in the top five of the Sunfoil Series averages was obviously a key factor in the Highveld Lions clinching the four-day title with a match to spare, but Geoff Toyana also praised the batsmen and the back-up bowlers for their vital role in the franchise’s third trophy in three seasons.

Dwaine Pretorius (19 wickets @ 18.52), Chris Morris (27 @ 20.44), Kagiso Rabada (34 @ 21.67) and Hardus Viljoen (31 @ 22.22) proved the adage that bowlers win matches as they played key roles in the Lions’ six wins, but they could not have done it without the support provided by the batsmen.

Captain Stephen Cook was obviously the outstanding contributor in this regard with 889 runs at 68.38, including five centuries, but the contributions of Temba Bavuma (545 @ 77.85), Neil McKenzie (487 @ 48.70) and Thami Tsolekile (424 @ 42.40) were also immense.

Back-up bowlers like Sean Jamison, with 12 wickets in three games, Pumelela Matshikwe (7wkts) and Eddie Leie (13wkts) were also crucial in filling in when the top four weren’t around.

“That combination of Kagiso, Chris, Hardus and Dwaine was really special, but we were fortunate because our depth was very good. We beat the Cobras by an innings with only Dwaine playing out of those, so those other bowlers don’t get the headlines but they really came through for us.

“With the bat, Stephen scoring five centuries was really special, plus there was his experience and leadership, while Neil was also in the runs and Temba came back from the Test team and did the business for us,” Toyana said.

It is the first time the Lions have won the four-day title since 1999/2000, in the pre-franchise days when they played as Gauteng, and Toyana said that made the triumph extra special.

“It’s the trophy we’ve wanted all these years and I’m very happy for the squad because it was tough last season, when we finished last in all competitions. But the belief in the squad was there because we did not make many changes, it was just a change in attitude that did the trick,” Toyana said.

The Titans’ phenomenal performances over the last two rounds of the Sunfoil Series caught the eye as they clinched the four-day title at the weekend, but coach Rob Walter said there has been a tremendous amount of hard work over the last three years leading up to their triumph.

The Titans first of all produced an epic batting display to save their game against the second-placed Highveld Lions, batting for 10-and-a-half hours in their second innings, and then, last weekend, defended a target of just 136 as they bowled the Cape Cobras out for only 125, left-arm paceman Rowan Richards taking seven for 40.

“Everyone loves success but it’s a great feeling when you know what went into winning the title. When I started coaching the Titans, we said we wanted to win the first-class competition and there has been systematic improvement, going from last to fourth to second last season and now first.

“And that’s thanks to the effort that was put in, for three seasons in a row, and the extra time the players spent on their games and on their preparation for matches. We have worked very, very hard and we spoke continuously about what it means to be a champion side, the kind of behaviours needed, what that looks like. It’s a bit intangible until you do it, then those performances in the last two games come along.

“The last two games have been at the opposite ends of the cricketing spectrum – against the Lions we were purely trying to save the game, and the second match was just about all-out attack to try and win. It was huge for the players and an awesome achievement,” Walter told The Citizen on Monday.

Despite having to do without their national team players for the bulk of the season, it is clear that the killer instinct remains in the Titans camp and Walter praised the heroes of their campaign.

“It’s very much down to mindset, you must be prepared to win the game in the last session of the last day, and the players were geared to go the full distance. That killer instinct is just in their nature, it runs through their veins.

“You could see Dean Elgar’s hunger ball-after-ball as he set about batting at a higher level, like a Test batsman. To score over 1100 runs, Heino Kuhn must have played well but it was high-quality batting and he didn’t put a foot wrong in scoring that century against a really decent Cobras attack – with four international-grade bowlers – and it stood out that he’s good enough to play Test cricket, if he’s not in the national selectors’ discussions then there’s a problem.

“Qaasim Adams just grows and grows, gets better and better. He had an outstanding season and was able to deliver in varying situations – when we were on top or when we were very much under pressure. Theunis de Bruyn is a high-quality young cricketer who had a really good season and Henry Davids delivered in the last two weeks when we were horribly under the pump.

“The bowling unit also had a lot to do with the success of the team. Rowan Richards is always a competitor and when he got a sniff, he was able to find that little bit extra, like all x-factor players do. He just loves bowling and his 16 overs on the trot against the Cobras – and it was hot – were quick and on the money.

“Marchant de Lange had a change in length and mindset and had instant reward, while Ethy Mbhalati did well, was always solid. Then Tabraiz Shamsi got 41 wickets, with two 12-fors, which is a huge feat for a spinner in South Africa, so he’s very exciting,” Walter said.

The four franchises in Sunfoil Series action from today are all disappointingly depleted due to the withdrawal of the Proteas and the South Africa A squad, but the bizhub Highveld Lions are targeting this weekend as a crucial time in their quest for their first four-day title.

The Lions are second on the log, just 2.72 points behind the Titans, who are not in action this weekend, and victory over the Nashua Cape Cobras in Potchefstroom will put them in prime position as the competition nears the halfway mark.

Lions coach Geoff Toyana is missing seven frontline players, but most of the replacements are well-versed in franchise cricket and he is aiming high against the defending champions.

“It’s always tough missing players, but I’m happy with the depth we have and we still have quite an experienced top six. This is a big game for us, it will define our season this competition. We beat the Cobras at Newlands in our last game, so our confidence is high and I just hope our skills match that,” Toyana told The Citizen yesterday.

Gulam Bodi, Dale Deeb, Vusi Mazibuko, Pumelela Matshikwe, Sean Jamison and Devon Conway are the players called up by the Lions, while the Cobras also have a host of players excluded by national commitments or injury.

Cobras coach Paul Adams has, however, been able to call on players from his RamSlam T20 Challenge winning team like Sybrand Engelbrecht, Dane Paterson, Lizaad Williams and George Linde, while much is expected of two players from the Western Province side – batsman Keegan Petersen and all-rounder Shaheen Khan.

Adams said he is looking for more partnerships from his top-order batsmen as the Cobras aim for their first win in their third match this season.

The Dolphins have made a strong start to the competition with 27.08 points from two games and they travel to East London to take on the struggling Warriors.

The Warriors have probably been the least affected by national call-ups with just Simon Harmer and Wayne Parnell unavailable and the Eastern Cape side have called up Border off-spinner Gionne Koopman, while the pace bowling duties will be in the hands of Andrew Birch, Basheer Walters and Aya Gqamane.

The healthy covering of grass on the Buffalo Park pitch will test the Dolphins, who have lost three key batsmen in Morne van Wyk, David Miller and Khaya Zondo, while bowling spearhead Kyle Abbott is also unavailable.

Titans captain Henry Davids

The Unlimited Titans take on Gauteng neighbours the Highveld Lions in a Sunfoil Series match at the Wanderers from this morning knowing that they are only as good as their previous performance, which fortunately in their case was a highly-encouraging return to four-day form, beating the Knights in Kimberley last weekend.

“We’re not looking too far forward, four-day cricket is our weakest format at the moment and we just want to go out and try to improve on our last showing and play disciplined cricket. But our last outing was a very good team performance, we stuck to our disciplines as a unit,” Titans captain Henry Davids said yesterday.

The Lions have had as tough a second-season fade-out under coach Geoffrey Toyana as could be imagined, but they are actually ahead of the Titans on the Sunfoil Series log, although by a slender three points.

It would be foolish to dismiss them, however, because they have quality players who will be hungry to make an impact and get something out of a thoroughly miserable season.

Quinton de Kock heads the list of star players as he goes about trying to prove he can play long-form cricket as spectacularly as he performs in the limited-overs formats. The Young Turk heads a batting line-up that features other future stars in Temba Bavuma and Dominic Hendricks, while Neil McKenzie, Stephen Cook and Thami Tsolekile have scored plenty of runs in four-day cricket down the years.

The Titans can probably kiss their hopes in the competition goodbye if they lose to the Lions as they are already 15 points behind the log-leading Cape Cobras, but in order to triumph their batsmen are going to have to police a probing Lions attack very carefully.

Once Hardus Viljoen and Lonwabo Tsotsobe have been blocked out with the new ball, there is the crafty leg-spin of Imran Tahir, the seam of Pumelela Matshikwe and possibly the swing of Cliffe Deacon to deal with.

In terms of the Titans attack, the bad news for them is that fast bowler Marchant de Lange, having travelled down many roads in trying to recover from a side strain, is still not fit enough for four-day action. He will be playing for Easterns in the three-day amateur competition instead, Davids confirmed.

Ethy Mbhalati and Albie Morkel are also out with niggling injuries and so the pace bowling responsibilities will fall on David Wiese, CJ de Villiers and young Vincent Moore, who shone with both bat and ball on debut last weekend.

Shaun von Berg, fresh off a career-best seven-wicket haul, and 10 in the match, against the Knights, will be a threat if the Wanderers pitch is tailor-made for Tahir, and Roelof van der Merwe will provide support in the spin department.

Hopefully, after going winless for 15 Sunfoil Series matches, the Titans have now turned the corner and they can maintain the momentum from Kimberley against the struggling Lions at the Wanderers.

Squads

Highveld Lions: Stephen Cook, Dominic Hendricks, Temba Bavuma, Neil McKenzie, Devon Conway, Quinton de Kock, Thami Tsolekile, Brett Pelser, Cliffe Deacon, Pumelela Matshikwe, Hardus Viljoen, Lonwabo Tsotsobe, Imran Tahir, Rassie van der Dussen.

Titans: Heino Kuhn, Francois le Clus, Henry Davids, Farhaan Behardien, Qaasim Adams, Mangaliso Mosehle, David Wiese, Shaun von Berg, CJ de Villiers, Vincent Moore, Roelof van der Merwe, JP de Villiers, Cobus Pienaar.