Titans still unbeaten, qualifies for home semi-final in Ram Slam T20 Challenge
Brilliant bowling by Dale Steyn, followed by a classic batting performance by Farhaan Behardien, helped Titans on Sunday in Port Elizabeth to retain their unbeaten status in the Ram Slam T20 Challenge.
After no results were possible last week due to rain in two consecutive games of the Titans in the Ram Slam T20 Challenge, Albie Morkel’s men had strengthened their first place on the log over the weekend with two brilliant victories.
On Friday night they beat the struggling Warriors in Benoni with 56 runs. This superb performance was followed up by another powerful performance against the Knights in Port Elizabeth on Sunday in a match that the men from Centurion won by five wickets.
Coming into Sunday’s game on the back of an unbeaten seven-match run which includes four bonus point wins, the competition has been a stroll thus far for the Titans, but the Knights pushed them all the way in the first game of the Port Elizabeth double-header.
Chasing 134 for victory, the Titans were under severe pressure on 54 for four after 11 overs. But Farhaan Behardien has rightly built up a reputation as one of the best finishers in the country, and he batted through to the end with a classy 56 not out off 39 balls as the Titans won with a ball to spare.
Captain Albie Morkel was the first to provide Behardien with great support, scoring 27 off 20 balls as the pair were able to add 48 for the fifth wicket in 4.5 overs.
Morkel was brilliantly caught on the long-off boundary by Keegan Petersen off Aubrey Swanepoel and 42 runs were still due off 24 balls.
The big-hitting of Chris Morris, who clobbered two sixes in his 17 not out off 10 balls, helped keep the Titans up with the required run-rate, and Behardien was clearly determined to finish the job, stroking three sixes and a couple of fours as the Titans had the final say in an engrossing encounter.
The Knights had elected to bat first and Dale Steyn quickly showed that he has lost none of his class as he reduced them to eight for two in a superb opening spell.
David Miller strode to 43 off 34 balls to ensure that the Knights regrouped, but wrist-spinner Tabraiz Shamsi’s superb spell of two for 21 in four overs ensured that they never took control of matters.
That the Knights eventually got as far as 133 for seven was thanks to a late flurry of 35 runs in the last three overs by Grant Mokoena (31) and Shadley van Schalkwyk (16*).
The superb bowling of Steyn, who took two for 20 in his four outstanding overs, was well-backed by the pace of Junior Dala, who claimed the key wicket of Miller and conceded just 12 runs in his two overs, and the spin of Aiden Markram, who bowled two overs for just five runs.
For free breaking and community news, visit Rekord’s websites:
For more news and interesting articles, like Rekord on Facebook, follow us on Twitter or Instagram.
