Ken Borland

Both the Unlimited Titans and the Dolphins will be looking to eat up the points differential between themselves and the log-leading bizhub Highveld Lions, but the losers of their Sunfoil Series match starting at SuperSport Park in Centurion today will almost certainly be out of the running for the title.

The Lions, who play the Chevrolet Knights in Bloemfontein, lead the competition with 96.78 points, with the Dolphins second on 79.54 and the Titans close behind on 77.56 with three rounds remaining.

Titans coach Rob Walter wants his team to gobble up all their chances, something they didn’t do in their previous match, a crucial 170-run defeat at the hands of the Nashua Cape Cobras in Paarl.

“We had them in the first innings but then we weren’t clinical enough at the end to close out the innings. We also batted very well at the start before falling apart, so we need to be mentally stronger and make sure the opposition has to work hard for anything they get,” Walter, who has Marchant de Lange fit again, told The Citizen yesterday.

The Dolphins have pacemen Robbie Frylinck and Craig Alexander fit again, but coach Lance Klusener said they would probably not be assimilated into the team just yet, because he’s looking for more consistency from a side that knocked over the defending champion Cobras by eight wickets at Newlands last weekend.

“We need more consistency, we’ve had some good individual days, but if you can put two good days in a row then you generally win. But we’ve managed to fight our way through to here and we still have a shout,” Klusener said.

The Lions suffered their only defeat in this season’s competition when the Knights beat them by 143 runs in Potchefstroom in October, after leading by 101 runs on first innings but then collapsing to 137 all out to the spin of Werner Coetsee.

“We’ve played some decent cricket, but we have to keep winning, every game is a big game,” Lions coach Geoff Toyana said.

Alviro Petersen is taking a short break to attend a family wedding, Dominic Hendricks returning to take his place, while all-rounder Dwaine Pretorius is back from injury.

The Knights have briefly hit the right notes in the Sunfoil Series, winning their first two games in convincing fashion but failing to add to that.

“There are a couple of critical things we need to get right again. We need to score big runs when the opportunity presents itself: We’ve had 22 scores of more than 30 in the last three games but no centuries. And we need to take our opportunities in the field because we’ve bowled with control,” coach Sarel Cilliers said.

The match between the Cobras and the Chevrolet Warriors at Newlands is all about restoring pride for the home side, who are bottom of the log.

The Titans took a bruise to their pride in their opening RamSlam T20 Challenge loss to the Dolphins, but successive victories have lifted the mood and left them eager to maintain their momentum as they head into a vital weekend.

The Titans travel to Bloemfontein to take on the Knights on Friday night, before returning home to face the Warriors on Sunday at Centurion in a double-header that also features the Dolphins playing the Cape Cobras.

“We weren’t happy with our performance in that first game against the Dolphins, we just didn’t adapt to conditions, we weren’t smart enough. So we’re very happy with our progression through the last two matches, but we’re still playing at only 70% of our capability. We’re executing better game plans and we’re very happy that the workload is being shared in terms of both batting and bowling,” senior batsman Farhaan Behardien said at SuperSport Park on Wednesday.

The inclusion of players like Graeme van Buuren and Lungi Ngidi has helped the change in fortunes, but there is likely to be another shake-up of the team this weekend with the return of all-rounder David Wiese after recovering from a hand injury.

While other captains are stumbling around in the fog when the pressure is on, Albie Morkel can chuckle and consider the luxury of fielding eight batsmen and nine bowlers – five pacemen, a dibbly-dobbler in Behardien, wrist-spinner Tabraiz Shamsi, a slow left-armer in Van Buuren and offie Henry Davids.

“We’re seeing in T20 now that you need eight batsmen, you need that depth if you go five or six down. The last two games, we’ve had enough batting to win and that takes the pressure off Albie and myself, everyone is chipping in. It’s where the game is going and we’ve taken a leaf out of Australia’s book – they have guys like James Faulkner, Mitchell Marsh and Mitchell Johnson; Chris Morris, Albie and David are a wonderful addition to our team. We have three frontline bowlers and three all-rounders with a wealth of experience internationally,” Behardien said.

“There are so many different combinations and it’s a quality 15-man squad. Anyone on their day can perform, we probably have more variety with our bowling than any other team and a lot of guys who love batting under pressure,” Van Buuren said.

The Titans recently took leave of one of their most inspirational players when they held a farewell function for batsman Jacques Rudolph, who has ended his South African career in order to focus on his commitments as captain of Glamorgan.

Rudolph, a compact left-hander whose 49 first-class centuries show his ability perhaps better than his Test average of 35, gave a moving address in which he was often in tears and which showed why he was one of the most popular players on the domestic circuit.

“One can dedicate one’s life to an institution and walk away with only a handshake, so this is a great evening to end a great journey,” Rudolph said. “The agreement is that next October I will be sitting on the grass embankment with my son, who will hopefully be starting to walk, and hear Loslappie [the Titans’ team song] roaring out from the changeroom.”

The 34-year-old tried his hand at international cricket with decent success, scoring six Test centuries and 11 fifties in 48 Tests, as well as averaging 35 in 45 ODIs, but what happened at the very start of his career with the national team, when he was pulled from the team by then UCB president Percy Sonn on the eve of his debut Test, probably did not help the confidence of a 21-year-old as he was back then in Sydney.

“There’s a strong perception that my career was marred by politics, what with the interference in selection in 2001/02, but I’m thankful for that because it gave me resilience and perseverance, it enabled me to overcome any adversity. I have no regrets, it only made me stronger,” Rudolph said with typical magnanimity.

He was indeed able to handle any attack on his day, but he has also made a massive difference off the field at Centurion.

“The stats only tell half the story. He’s one of the nicest okes to work with and there are so many people he’s touched while he’s been here. Junior players come to me and say what an inspiration he’s been. Scoring 20 000 runs is one thing, but he’s also provided a much-needed lift in the changeroom,” Titans CEO Jacques Faul said.

The inspiration continued in his parting words as Rudolph gave some worthy advice to the young cricketers present.

“Arrogance comes before a fall. I remember when I was 21 and I had just scored a double-century for South Africa and I came back to the Titans. Gerald Dros had to call me aside and tell me that I needed to come down a peg or two before I had become arrogant. That was life-changing.

“You won’t succeed if you are arrogant. The All Blacks are a great example, they beat a lot of teams but they are very humble and always spend time with the opposition. Make friends and learn from them, treat people with dignity and respect, South Africa creates a certain environment, but we need to break barriers and reach out.

“You can’t start soon enough to save money because before you know it, your career can be taken away. I learnt too late sadly about financial discipline because life is expensive.

“Teams win championships and not individuals – individuals win you games. And your identity musn’t be linked to how you perform or your abilities. The best batsmen only reach fifty once in every three innings, so you fail a lot more than you succeed in this game. Don’t link your value as a person to how you perform or what people think of you,” Rudolph said.

The applause should ring out for Jacques Rudolph for all the pleasure he gave local cricket fans and the contribution he made to South African cricket.

Both the Highveld Lions and the Titans have questions over the balance of their teams as they meet in a RamSlam T20 Challenge match in Potchefstroom on Friday night.

Both sides were unable to counteract the top-order power of the Dolphins in their previous encounters, with David Miller once again hurting the Titans and Kevin Pietersen’s spectacular century edging out the Lions in midweek.

The Titans have added Graeme van Buuren, a batsman who can bowl effective limited-overs left-arm spin, to their squad, with Qaasim Adams, unfortunate not to be in the starting XI, now not even in the squad.

“Selection is tricky, but it’s a nice tricky to have. We just need to find the right balance for the day and we need to be flexible. There are probably four guys who are in great form but are not playing,” Titans coach Rob Walter said.

While the Lions had not yet announced their squad at the time of going to press, they have used the same XI in both their matches. With Neil McKenzie out of favour and Temba Bavuma away with the Proteas, their batting line-up depends heavily on the experience of Alviro Petersen and Rassie van der Dussen, while they have used just five bowlers in both matches.

“Their middle-order has yet to be tested and if we can get a few early wickets then maybe we can put some pressure on the young, inexperienced players. Their experienced players have done well for them, guys like Van der Dussen and Pietersen with the bat and Aaron Phangiso and Lonwabo Tsotsobe with the ball are in key positions,” Walter said.

The Titans coach said minor surgery rather than dramatic changes was needed after their opening loss to the Dolphins.

“It’s just small portions of the game that weren’t up to standard and losing by six runs showed that we got just a few things wrong. The Dolphins should never have got that amount of runs on that pitch, but Albie Morkel produced an unbelievable innings to get us close.

“It was a very different pitch to what we’re used to at home, but we didn’t adapt as we should have and played some shots that weren’t on in those conditions. Potch should be a really good pitch, a decent surface, although it could potentially be slow due to the lack of rain,” Walter said.

Titans squad: Henry Davids, Quinton de Kock, Graeme van Buuren, Heino Kuhn, Farhaan Behardien, Albie Morkel, Mangaliso Mosehle, Chris Morris, Tabraiz Shamsi, Lungi Ngidi, Junior Dala, Grant Mokoena, Ruben Claassen, Marchant de Lange.