Challenging home straight for Titans in T20 series
The Titans' current fourth place on the log in the domestic T20 series means they can still qualify for the semi-finals, but then Farhaan Behardien and his men will have to get a few good victories in this coming last week of the league fixtures.
With four games each remaining for all teams in the current domestic T20 tournament, the Titans can’t afford to suffer any further defeats if they still want to qualify for the semi-finals.
Mark Boucher’s team has two away games and two home games to complete before next week’s semi-finals.
After a couple of their earlier games were influenced by rain, the Titans achieved mixed success last week in two games that could continue unhindered.
First, they lost by 19 runs against the Highveld Lions on the Wanderers on Thursday, after an in-form Rassie van der Dussen played a major role in the home side’s success.
A total of 181 – aided by an excellent competition record second-wicket partnership of 151 runs between Van der Dussen (85 off 47 balls) and Reeza Hendricks (77 off 61 balls) – ultimately proved too good for the Titans in Johannesburg.
Behardien and his men, however, bounced back in Pietermaritzburg on Sunday with a dazzling eight-wicket win against the Dolphins.
A clinical display of free-hitting by Theunis de Bruyn helped the defending champions to easily beat the home team and in the process, they even succeeded in chasing a greater total than the 181 against the Lions.
De Bruyn plundered 10 boundaries – five sixes and five fours – in a sizzling 32-ball 72 not out as the visitors chased down a probing 186 with seven deliveries to spare.
De Bruyn shared in a fixture record unbroken 109 for the third wicket alongside Jonathan Vandiar, which helped their side move to 13 points from six games, a return that kept them well in the hunt for the play-offs.
Henry Davids (42) and Tony de Zorzi (24) put on 64 in 8.2 overs for the opening wicket, before both fell to Prenelan Subrayen (2/28) within the space of six deliveries.
Then came the punishing De Bruyn-Vandiar stand that flattened the home bowling and gave Mark Boucher’s men the convincing win.
Their fate is therefore still in their own hands (if the weather plays along) to qualify for the semi-final. With a little luck, defending champions from Centurion may even qualify for a home semi-final since they are only four points behind the leaders on the log.
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