Ken Borland

Domestic four-day cricket seldom receives the attention it should, but Unlimited Titans coach Rob Walter said yesterday that their thrilling 32-run weekend victory over the Knights in their Sunfoil Series match at SuperSport Park was “the way cricket should be played”.

The Knights mounted a stirring run-chase on a great final day as they tried to chase down 435 and were on target as Gihahn Cloete and Rilee Rossouw blazed hundreds.

After 70 overs, the Knights looked as if they were cruising to victory on 287 for one, needing 148 runs off 36 overs with Cloete and Rossouw in full flight. But JP de Villiers removed both set batsmen and the second new ball then produced a remarkable collapse of six wickets for 18 runs in eight overs in the hands of David Wiese and Marchant de Lange.

A last-wicket stand of 43 between Malusi Siboto and Corne Dry revitalised the Knights before Wiese claimed the final wicket and a famous win at 5.25pm.

“That’s the way cricket should be played. We set up the game with the second new ball very much in mind, leaving us enough overs with it to make an impact, but I never thought it would have to make so much of an impact!

“I’m very excited by the win because it means a helluva lot, it speaks volumes for the culture within the team. We don’t have much to play for in terms of the competition, but we didn’t want to just rock up and play without any care.

“We showed great care and pride in our performance and, if the scoreboard had been switched off, someone watching would never have thought the score was 300 for two. There were a few overs when they really bossed us, but the intensity was amazing and awesome to see,” Walter told The Pretoria News yesterday.

While chasing 435 would normally be one of those flights of fancy that seldom occur in real life, conditions and the brilliance of Cloete and Rossouw had the Knights well on course.

“The pitch was very flat on the fourth day and never offered much of anything. Plus for [leg-spinner] Shaun von Berg to bowl to two left-handers like Cloete and Rossouw was tough. If two batsmen get in those conditions, then chasing six an over is quite easy, it’s very difficult to defend, especially with a short boundary at one end,” Walter explained.

De Lange was like Hagar The Horrible with the new ball, obtaining spiteful, awkward bounce at high pace and Walter said he was delighted the fast bowler was able to make such an impact in his first game for the Titans since November.

“I’m really happy for Marchant’s sake because it’s a reward for a lot of patience and hard work. He really wanted to play earlier, but he had to buy into the process. It’s not just about being physically fit, he had to earn his place. And it’s really exciting that he managed to produce that pace at 4.30pm on the last day of a four-day match,” Walter said.

Cloete received the man of the match award for his maiden century in the Sunfoil Series, but the honour should surely have gone to Wiese, who made important contributions of 45 and 31 not out with the bat and had match figures of six for 93 with the ball. He removed both openers in the Knights first innings, paving the way for their dismissal for just 218 and then claimed four for 18 with the second new ball in the dramatic finale.

“David is really starting to find his feet with the new ball, he’s got seriously good skill with it and can swing it both ways, as well as containing nicely too. His wickets with the new ball and his contributions with the bat at number seven make him a real all-rounder who provides such stability. We can rely on him,” Walter said.

Judging by the spirit shown this weekend, Titans fans can rely on their team going all out to end the season on a high with victory over the Warriors in their final match starting at Centurion on Thursday.

“It’ll be nice to win because three wins will be a 300% improvement on last season. We want to maintain the momentum of what we did this weekend,” Walter said.

It took the Unlimited Titans until 5.25pm on the final day but they eventually sealed a thrilling 32-run victory over the Knights in their Sunfoil Series match at SuperSport Park in Centurion yesterday.

A lunchtime rain shower, an extraordinary partnership by centurions Gihahn Cloete and Rilee Rossouw, and a plucky last-wicket stand all caused delays, but it was ultimately the second new ball in the hands of David Wiese (four for 55) and Marchant de Lange (three for 72) that won the day for the Titans.

Much credit, however, must go to the Knights. They were eventually bowled out for 402 to record the highest ever fourth-innings total in four-day franchise cricket.

While Cloete and Rossouw were adding 209 for the second wicket in just three hours, it seemed as if the Knights would storm to their unlikely target of 435. But in the midst of a thorough caning on a pitch that had flattened out beautifully for batting, paceman JP de Villiers made two vital breakthroughs either side of tea to remove Rossouw for 127 and Cloete for 129.

It allowed De Lange and Wiese to take the second new ball against new batsmen and they responded with a devastating burst of six wickets in nine overs to bring a Titans victory back into the equation.

Rossouw had earlier played a great innings to make a highly unlikely Knights victory the odds-on favourite. Given a wonderful platform by openers Cloete and Reeza Hendricks (46), who added 89 for the first wicket, he bludgeoned a 108-ball century which included five sixes.

Another of the new generation of batsmen pushing for international recognition, he has now passed 50 five times this season in scoring 621 runs at an average of 47.76.

Cloete has no international aspirations at the moment as he just tries to keep his place in the Knights team, and his wonderful innings was not only his best this season, beating a lowly 33, but a career-best.

But even given the total dominance they showed, chasing 435 on the final day remains one of those flights of fancy that is extremely rarely attained, even though the game today is so biased towards batsmen.

The skiddy De Villiers had Rossouw caught slicing a lofted drive over the covers and then bowled Cloete as he tried to pull a delivery that was too full.

De Lange struck with his fourth delivery with the second new ball as Rudi Second (11) mistimed a pull to square-leg and the fast bowler removed Obus Pienaar (6) in his next over with a brutish lifter that was well-claimed by Qaasim Adams running back from point.

Wiese then got in on the act as he had Gerhardt Abrahams (5) caught behind and then removed Johan van der Wath (0) and Quinton Friend (6) in the space of three balls.

The key scalp of the experienced Werner Coetsee (4) fell to the fired-up De Lange, the batsman unable to deal with another sharp lifter, and the Titans looked sure winners with the Knights 359 for nine.

But the spellbinding game took another turn as the last-wicket pair of Malusi Siboto (26*) and Corne Dry (19), both of whom clearly know how to wield the bat, belted 43 runs off the next 6.4 overs.

The end finally came as the impressive Wiese bowled the perfect ball, back-of-a-length with bounce and some away movement, and found the edge of Dry’s bat for a regulation caught behind and the Titans’ second victory of the campaign.

The narrow defeat is particularly hard on the valiant Knights, who now go into the final weekend of matches 19 points behind the Cape Cobras and clinging to the slimmest of hopes of taking the title off the defending champions.

Qaasim Adams and Mangaliso Mosehle scored half-centuries and led the Unlimited Titans to a commanding position on the third day of their Sunfoil Series match against the Knights at SuperSport Park in Centurion on Saturday.

Adams and Mosehle added 105 for the fifth wicket, in just over two hours and off 163 balls, and allowed the Titans to declare their second innings on 286 for seven midway through the final session.

The Titans began the third day by wrapping up the Knights first innings for 218, Marchant de Lange having Werner Coetsee (57) and Corne Dry (1) caught behind the wicket in the space of 17 balls, giving them a first-innings lead of 148.

That meant the Knights were left with a daunting target of 435 for victory and they had reached 32 without loss when bad light stopped play with six overs left to be bowled. Openers Reeza Hendricks (16*) and Gihahn Cloete (15*) had done a good job in surviving for close to an hour.

Adams was the star of the day in scoring 84, starting his innings patiently as he came in with the Titans in danger of a wobble on 72 for three.

But by midway through the afternoon, he was bristling with intent as he collected 10 fours and two sixes in setting up the declaration. He was involved in a tremendous tussle with fiery Knights fast bowler Johan van der Wath, which required the intervention of the umpires at one stage, and it was the veteran who eventually removed him.

The left-handed Adams had started his innings relying on clever deflections for runs, but by the end he was unselfishly freeing his arms and hitting out and the slow pitch which has been the bane of strokeplay throughout the game eventually proved his undoing as he failed to clear deep mid-on with a lofted drive.

The Knights were battered by Adams and were run off their feet by Mosehle, who scored a sprightly 56 off 79 balls.

The wicketkeeper/batsman’s innings was also crucial as the Titans were in danger of wasting their first-innings advantage when he came to the crease on 106 for four, the lead being 254.

Titans openers Heino Kuhn and Ernest Kemm were both dismissed for eight, bowled by Van der Wath and caught in the slips off Corne Dry respectively, but captain Henry Davids (33) and Roelof van der Merwe (29) then set about the bowling in positive fashion.

Both were well set to completely take the game away from the Knights, but both contrived to get themselves out in rather soft fashion.

Van der Merwe skewed an ambitious drive on the up off Dry to mid-on, while Davids skied a shortish ball from Malusi Siboto straight to fine leg.

With the log-leading Cape Cobras needing eight wickets on the final day to beat the Warriors, the Knights, already trailing by 9.08 points, are going to have to produce something special to stay in contention for the title. They will need to score another 403 runs in 96 overs today to beat the Titans and stay in touch with the defending champions.

Leg-spinner Shaun von Berg ensured that his name will be mentioned more often in future national selection meetings as his three-wicket burst put the Unlimited Titans in control of their Sunfoil Series match against the Knights at SuperSport Park in Centurion yesterday.

After David Wiese (45) and JP de Villiers (59) stretched the Titans first innings to 366, Von Berg claimed three for 10 in his first eight overs as the Knights limped to 212 for eight at stumps, which came with 18 overs left to be bowled due to bad light.

The Titans resumed yesterday morning on 268 for seven, and Wiese and De Villiers ensured they converted a good first day into a meaningful total with an eighth-wicket stand of 81 lasting exactly 100 minutes.

The home side batted through to the brink of lunch, leaving the Knights with three overs to survive before the break, which they did in reaching 11 without loss.

But with Reeza Hendricks (3) lasting just two balls in the second session before edging an away-swinger from Wiese into the slips, the Knights were under pressure from the start of the afternoon session.

Wiese again found swing to bowl Gihahn Cloete through the gate for 12 and Rilee Rossouw (23), having taken four successive fours off Marchant de Lange’s previous over, then edged the fast bowler low to Roelof van der Merwe at third slip in a thrilling passage of play.

Von Berg then took centre-stage in another proof that the hours of work he has put in in the nets are paying off as he ripped through the middle-order.

He landed his first delivery perfectly and it went straight on to trap Obus Pienaar lbw for 14 and he then outfoxed Rudi Second, inducing a return catch, to remove a batsman who had looked capable of causing a few hours of trouble for the Titans as he breezed to 38.

Von Berg’s fortunes changed, however, in the last one-and-a-half hours of play as Werner Coetsee took control.

The 27-year-old returned to the attack straight after tea, changing to the West Lane End, and an inspired piece of bowling saw him rip a delivery across Gerhardt Abrahams (26) and into his off stump in his first over back.

That gave Von Berg figures of 8-3-10-3, but Coetsee ensured 45 runs would come from his last five overs yesterday as he raced to 57 not out off 61 balls.

But the 31-year-old Coetsee was fighting a largely lone battle, with De Villiers removing both Johan van der Wath (10) and Quinton Friend (2) in the 45^th over, in an excellent second spell.