Ken Borland

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.

Decision-making is normally brilliant in the offices of SuperSport Park but out on the field at Kingsmead on Friday the Titans made a number of wrong decisions that saw them lose their crucial T20 Challenge match against the Dolphins by seven runs and be eliminated from the playoffs.

Their mistakes started in selection as ace spinner Simon Harmer was left out of the side for seam-bowling all-rounder Grant Thomson. It left the Titans with just one specialist spinner, while the Dolphins’ pairing of Prenelan Subrayen and Keshav Maharaj thoroughly dominated the first half of the Titans innings, conceding just 35 runs in their first seven overs combined.

Thomson did not bowl and batted number seven, and although he hit the first ball of the final over for six, he had little impact on the game. Off-spinner Harmer, who has an economy rate of just 5.13 in his 83 T20 games, may well have been able to deal with left-hander David Miller, who was the key batsman in the Dolphins innings, his 49 not out off 35 balls lifting them to 151 for six.

Sending all-rounder Dayyaan Galiem in at number three did pay off for the Titans as he scored a plucky, unselfish 45 off 39 balls to lift a flagging run-rate that saw only 26 runs scored in the powerplay of six overs.

But when Dean Elgar was dismissed by the impressive Kerwin Mungroo (4-0-29-2), the Titans needed 101 from 60 balls but sent in Sibonelo Makhanya instead of Heinrich Klaasen and Chris Morris, who have shown their finishing ability at international level.

By the time Makhanya was also dismissed by Mungroo, for 15 off 13 balls, the Titans needed 55 from 26 deliveries, the required run-rate having increased to 13.09.

Morris came in next but failed, before Klaasen gave the Titans hope with a courageous 29 not out off 14 balls.

But with 14 runs needed off three balls, the Titans were thrown a lifeline as Ottneil Baartman bowled a head-high delivery way down leg which was called no-ball and went for four byes.

That left the Titans needing nine off three balls, but Klaasen could only hammer the free hit straight to Miller at extra cover. Inexplicably he took the single, leaving tailender Lizaad Williams to score eight off the last two balls.

Williams failed to score as Baartman found the blockhole with the last two deliveries.

The Dolphins had won the toss and batted, and went on the attack from the outset as Sarel Erwee (33 from 20) led them to 62 for one after seven overs.

The Titans attack fought back well, Lungi Ngidi leading the way with an outstanding three for 20, but their batting has not been at its best in this tournament and their demise sees the Warriors play the Imperial Lions in Saturday’s playoff, which will decide who plays the Dolphins in Sunday’s final.

Dean Elgar followed up his 206-minute occupation of SuperSport Park in the first Test by making the Wanderers his own erf of batting tenaciousness, steering South Africa to 148 for one, just nine runs behind Sri Lanka’s total, on the first day of the second Test on Sunday.

With Anrich Nortje taking a career-best six for 56 in 14.3 overs, finishing off the fine work of Wiaan Mulder before lunch, Sri Lanka were bundled out just after 2pm for 157 in only 40.3 overs. Elgar and Rassie van der Dussen then ensured the Proteas made a solid response as they added 114 for the second wicket.

Elgar made it to stumps on 92 not out, having batted for 174 minutes and faced 119 balls, and showed a great ability to adapt his game, absorbing pressure when necessary and changing gears when possible. His first 25 runs came at a run-a-ball, but after tea when Sri Lanka stuck to really disciplined lines and lengths, he showed great patience and resolve. Later in the afternoon, when the shackles were released a bit, the left-hander was able to regain his fluency.

Van der Dussen was even more patient, showing the sort of composure that comes from experience as he took 26 deliveries to get off the mark, but bided his time, sticking to his game plan until the Sri Lankan bowlers backed off. The 31-year-old went to stumps on 40 not out, after 139 minutes and 82 deliveries, having come to the crease in the third over after tea after Aiden Markram (5) was caught in the slips off debutant Asitha Fernando, who took the new ball and produced an impressive first spell in Test cricket.

Sri Lanka had won the toss and elected to bat first under cloudy skies in cool conditions, and opener Kusal Perera’s belligerent 60 off 67 balls took them to 71 for one, before experiencing a dramatic collapse that saw them lose nine wickets for 86 runs.

South Africa’s fast bowlers were having difficulty tying Kusal down and the left-hander bashed 11 fours in his innings as anything approaching full in length was lashed through the covers. But Mulder changed the complexion of the game, finding the perfect length and some away movement as he took three wickets for one run before lunch.

Kusal was caught in the slips as he planted the front foot, reached for a drive and edged the delivery going across him, with Kusal Mendis (0) and Lahiru Thirimanne (17) also being caught in the slips. Mulder also ended with career-best figures of three for 25.

Nortje came to the fore after lunch, Sri Lanka’s lower-order being unable to cope with the combination of high pace and a fuller length as he took five for 35 in the second session.

“Kusal batted really well and if you gave him any width he was immediately on to it, but I’m very happy with the end result. As a unit the bowlers did very well and it was great to improve on the first innings at Centurion. Wiaan did really well, he’s not just bowling dot balls but taking wickets as well, which helps us so much.
“I just tried to be tight, keep it as simple as possible and use the extra bounce. You’re not trying to do miracles and we stuck to what we wanted, which is bowling in the channel after we were a bit wide and maybe both sides of the wicket at Centurion. Today we created lots of opportunities and those bowling partnerships is what we want,” Nortje said.

Only Wanindu Hasaranga (29) and Dushmantha Chameera (22) gave the Proteas much pause for thought as they added 39 for the eighth wicket.

But Monday could be a long second day for Sri Lanka, with batting likely to be easier.

South Africa had a 1-0 series lead safely tucked away in their property as they completed an innings-and-45-runs victory over Sri Lanka half-an-hour after lunch on the fourth day of the first Test at SuperSport Park in Centurion on Tuesday.

With this being just a two-match series, it means the Proteas are assured of not losing their fourth successive Test series.

The injury-decimated Sri Lankans were eventually put out of their misery on 180 with Dhananjaya de Silva the only batsman who eventually did not come to the crease.

Fast bowlers Lutho Sipamla and Anrich Nortje claimed the last two wickets as South Africa’s four pacemen took two wickets apiece and there was a run out.

The Proteas began the post-lunch session with two spinners in an attempt to lift their lagging over-rate, but once Sipamla returned, he had Wanindu Hasaranga caught as the plucky debutant tried to drive him down the ground. Hasaranga had belted 59 off just 53 balls, with 12 fours and a six.

Nortje then induced a catch in the gully from Kasun Rajitha (0) and South Africa will go into the second Test at the Wanderers with much to build on.

South Africa put themselves on the verge of victory in the morning session as they were able to tear through the visitors’ batting line-up, taking five wickets as Sri Lanka limped to lunch on 148 for seven, still trailing by 77 runs.

While Lungi Ngidi had been the wicket-taker on the third evening as Sri Lanka went to 65 for two overnight, it was seamer Wiaan Mulder who did most of the damage on the fourth morning with a fine spell of nine overs, two for 29.

He made the first breakthrough of the day when he jagged a delivery back through Dinesh Chandimal’s gate, hitting the top of off stump and bowling him for 25. Mulder bowled particularly well to the left-handers and then had Niroshan Dickwella caught behind for 10, using the natural angle from over the wicket to good effect.

Opener Kusal Perera was still there, however, and landed some tremendous blows as he belted 64 off 87 balls, taking on the Proteas pacemen with the same belligerent attitude as in his famous matchwinning innings in Durban in 2019.

It was Nortje who removed the dangerman, however, winning a caught-behind decision against the left-hander with umpire Adrian Holdstock’s not out decision being overturned on review as a thin edge was picked up on UltraEdge.

Sipamla, who has just been getting better and better after a tough first day at the office, then produced a superb delivery to dismiss first-innings fifty-maker Dasun Shanaka for just 6. The fast bowler angled a nice and full delivery into the right-hander and it then nipped away, finding the edge as the batsman went on a big flatfooted drive, wicketkeeper Quinton de Kock pouncing on the catch.

A chaotic run out, Vishwa Fernando (0) showing poor awareness of the situation as he went for a quick single with the injured Hasaranga, then completed another poor session for the Sri Lankans.