Ken Borland

There will be practically two different Titans teams in action this weekend as the defending champions look to get their Momentum One-Day Cup campaign back on track with matches against the Knights in Benoni on Friday and versus the Warriors in East London on Sunday.

While the Titans are currently in fourth place on the log, there are only five points – the equivalent of a bonus point win – between them and the competition-leading Cape Cobras. The Warriors are second with the same number of points as the Cobras, while the Highveld Lions are third, two points ahead of the Titans. The Dolphins are, like the Titans, on nine points and the bottom-placed Knights are on eight, so there is a real logjam in the 50-over standings.

While current Proteas Quinton de Kock, Faf du Plessis, Farhaan Behardien and Chris Morris will all be playing in Benoni, getting some valuable white-ball cricket in before the series against England starts on Wednesday, SA A players Dean Elgar, Qaasim Adams, Theunis de Bruyn, David Wiese and Marchant de Lange (called up on Friday) won’t be there for the Titans at all this weekend as they are playing a day/night match against the tourists in Kimberley on Saturday.

Coach Rob Walter said on Thursday that the Titans were inconsistent in the first five games of the competition, which won’t be helped by the raft of changes he will have to make between their sixth and eighth games, by when the SA A quintet should be back.

“It’s not going to be easy, we’re losing a lot of players so it will test our squad strength, but it provides opportunities for some quality cricketers. We’re under a bit of pressure to get the job done this weekend, we need points if we’re going to push for a home final.

“Of course we’ve been down this road before and we just have to make sure we get on a roll. We’ve been a bit inconsistent with both bat and ball and have struggled to put both facets together in the same game. But we have a strong side to play the Knights, who are always tough and offer very strong resistance,” Walter said.

The likes of Grant Thomson, Graeme van Buuren, Heinrich Klaasen and Rowan Richards, who were all successful in the first half of the competition, should be in contention to fill in on Sunday in East London.

Titans squad v Knights – Henry Davids, Quinton de Kock, Heino Kuhn, Faf du Plessis, Farhaan Behardien, Grant Mokoena, Mangaliso Mosehle, Albie Morkel, Chris Morris, Tabraiz Shamsi, Junior Dala, Grant Thomson, Ethy Mbhalati.

The Unlimited Titans were hammered by an innings by the Dolphins in the latest round of Sunfoil Series matches, but the log at the bottom of this article is not incorrect, the northern/eastern Gauteng side are indeed top of the standings as the four-day competition enters the new year.

While the Titans succumbed by an innings and 54 runs to the Dolphins at Kingsmead, coach Rob Walter believes he has the material to mount a serious title challenge in the premier domestic competition.

“It was disappointing the way we played in Durban, but specifically the way we played the week before when we thrashed the Knights in Bloemfontein has put us in a good position with two wins in four games. This competition is more about the games you win than the games you lose and the bowlers were outstanding in Bloemfontein, while Farhaan Behardien has certainly been one of the standout batsmen in the competition,” Walter told The Citizen.

The inconsistency of the Titans is what is threatening their title ambitions, however, with the bowlers performing poorly in Durban as they bowled the wrong lengths, and the batting also looking vulnerable at times.

The Titans’ next match, against the Highveld Lions, who are second, just 1.72 points behind them with a game in hand, is shaping up as a crucial encounter. That game only starts on January 15 though, with the Titans having a break as the Lions take on the Cape Cobras and the Warriors host the Dolphins from January 8.

Walter warned that the Dolphins, who have 27.08 points from two matches compared to the Titans’ 46.18 from four, will also be a big factor in the competition.

“That attack of theirs is very good, Kyle Abbott and Ryan McLaren are two international bowlers and their quality shone through against us. Their greater ability to execute their skills, in terms of landing the ball in the right area over and over again, makes them very good bowlers,” Walter said.

The Titans bowlers were nowhere near as accurate, although speedster Marchant de Lange and left-arm swing bowler Rowan Richards are both enjoying good campaigns.

De Lange has taken nine wickets in his last two innings and Walter says he is a much-improved bowler.

“Marchant’s done a helluva lot of work. He’s had patches of success before, but I’ve seen steady growth this season in him as a strike bowler. His pace is a trumpcard and as he goes up through the levels, he’ll have to become more consistent and better at executing his plans because top batsmen on good pitches deal with pace. But his skills have improved,” Walter said.

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