Ken Borland

Top-order star Jacques Rudolph will be playing his long-form cricket away from South Africa in the foreseeable future as the Titans batsman confirmed yesterday that he will not be available for the remainder of the Sunfoil Series.

Rudolph, who has scored a busload of runs for the Titans in four-day cricket – 3003 at an average of 49.22 with eight centuries and 16 half-centuries – will be returning to county cricket in a couple of months.

The left-hander will be carrying the responsibility of being Glamorgan’s overseas pro and he told The Pretoria News that his body just could not take the strain of playing cricket all year round.

“I have struggled from previous experiences playing full seasons abroad and at home. I want to arrive mentally fresh because the workload in county cricket is far more than in South Africa,” the 32-year-old said.

“That’s why I made myself unavailable from the start of the season already, committing to only five Sunfoil Series games for the Titans at the start of the season. It’s certainly not a retirement from four-day cricket, but a move to manage my mind and body more efficiently. It is very difficult to play all year.”

Before there are protestors banging on the gates of SuperSport Park, Rudolph will return to the franchise next summer and, although his focus will be on the limited-overs game, he has an open mind about playing four-day cricket too.

“I will have communications with Rob [coach Rob Walter] during the county season. I would still like to throw my name in the hat in regards to one-day cricket in South Africa. And if I don’t play four-day cricket here next season, I would like to assist the younger players where possible,” Rudolph said.

The Titans are certainly going to miss their most experienced, successful batsman as they look to recover from a poor start in this season’s Sunfoil Series, but Rudolph’s absence does allow Heino Kuhn to stamp his mark as a senior player and the likes of Francois le Clus to develop his talent.

“Jacques has been an integral part of the Titans’ successes in the past and to lose him, albeit just for the rest of this season’s four-day campaign, will obviously impact the team. But that said, it also provides an opportunity for our younger players to step up and fill the space that Jacques leaves.

“He remains an integral member of the Titans set-up and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future,” Walter said.

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.

The Unlimited Titans beat the Knights by seven wickets in their Sunfoil Series match in Kimberley over the weekend to climb off the bottom of the log, but the most significant aspect of their triumph is that it sees them abandon a 15-game winless streak in four-day cricket.

Coach Rob Walter was obviously a delighted man on Monday, the pleasure of seeing all his plans finally come together in the Sunfoil Series just adding to the joy of getting engaged recently to the girl of his dreams and the satisfaction of seeing Albie Morkel and Farhaan Behardien back in the national squad.

“It was the type of performance that I knew we could produce. For the first time the bowlers really worked as a unit, stuck to the plan and were able to hold their skills for a long time.

“I was very chuffed, it was a significant performance and the most important part of it was the way we played in different, crucial phases of the game,” Walter told The Pretoria News yesterday.

While it was a solid team effort that earned them victory over the previous log-leaders, CJ de Villiers, Shaun von Berg, David Wiese and debutant Vincent Moore were the stars for the Titans.

CJ de Villiers - batting hero

De Villiers, chosen in the team for his bowling, scored crucial half-centuries in each innings. The seamer top-scored with 57 in the first innings, combining with Moore (48) in a 106-run partnership for the last wicket that lifted the Titans to parity with the Knights.

The 27-year-old then came in as a nightwatchman and made 52 not out to take the Titans to a tricky little target of 156 on the final day.

“For CJ to make a fifty in the first innings at number 10 and then back it up was awesome. That partnership with Vincent got us back in the game and I was especially pleased with his application because it’s easy to bat like a number 10 in those situations,” Walter said.

In terms of the bowling, the match brought outstanding figures of 10 for 129, including a career-best seven for 66 in the second innings, for leg-spinner Von Berg, a five-wicket haul in the first innings for Wiese and a highly-encouraging match analysis of four for 87 for Moore, the 19-year-old left-arm quick.

“David bowled superbly well in the first innings and Vincent bowled really nicely too. He got the key wicket of Rilee Rossouw in the first innings at a key time and consistently executed his skills,” Walter said.

But it was Von Berg who the coach was most excited about, the 27-year-old producing a potentially career-defining performance on a pitch that did begin to turn towards the end of the game.

“It was as well as I’ve seen Shaun bowl, a top-class effort. I’m very hesitant to tag players and expect too much, too early from them, but if he can consistently do what he did over the weekend, then he’ll be a candidate for higher honours.

“He never struggles to turn the ball, but he nailed his pace and where to land the ball and he bowled around the wicket exceptionally well,” Walter said.

–

Despite the best efforts of their bowlers, the Highveld Lions were denied a crucial victory by the weather in their four-day domestic franchise series match against the Titans at the Wanderers on Sunday.

When bad light and then rain stopped play just after 4pm on the final day, the Titans were reeling on 137 for seven in their follow-on innings, still facing a deficit of 46 runs. With rain having also stopped play for two hours earlier in the afternoon, the Lions could obviously feel aggrieved that the weather had cost them victory and a vital extra 10 log points.

The effect of the draw is to leave the Lions still 13 points behind the log-leading Cape Cobras, but with a game in hand.

The weekend victories of the Dolphins over the Cobras (by 15 runs) and the Warriors over the Knights (by 10 wickets) have turned the series into a three-horse race. The Eastern Cape franchise now trails the Cobras by just 0.18 points.

Leg-spinner Imran Tahir quickly wrapped up the Titans first innings on Sunday morning, taking the last two wickets as the visitors were dismissed for just 120, 183 runs behind the Lions’ first innings of 303.

The home side enforced the follow-on and young fast bowlers Chris Morris and Hardus Viljoen shared six wickets as the Titans’ batsmen once again struggled to cope with the movement and bounce on offer under overcast skies.

Morris bowled Pieter Malan for a single in the third over but Jacques Rudolph (25) and Henry Davids (41), the Titans’ two members of the national squad, added 61 for the second wicket.

But Viljoen removed Rudolph, who edged a superb delivery that drew him forward and then nipped away into the gloves of Dominic Hendricks, keeping wicket as Thami Tsolekile rests an ankle strain, in the first over of the afternoon session.

Morris then claimed the important wicket of Davids five overs later, trapped lbw, and with Heino Kuhn (12) and David Wiese (3) also falling cheaply, the Lions were in obvious control when rain interrupted play just after the drinks break with the Titans on 128 for five.

The players returned after two hours, but the respite from the rain only lasted 13 minutes, with the Lions managing to claim the wickets of Roelof van der Merwe (4) and Shaun von Berg (5) in that time.

But the weather would have the final say as Viljoen finished with three for 25 in 13 overs and Morris took three for 54.

Mangaliso Mosehle was denying the Lions attack with 30 not out, but the Titans only had the tail left to bat.

Zander de Bruyn was named the man of the match for his important innings of 65 and his two valuable wickets in the first innings.