Titans lose last league match in T20 challenge, do not make semi-finals
The Titans’ season was cut short on Sunday when they lost against the Highveld Lions on their home ground in Centurion and consequently, they have also forfeited a spot in the semi-finals of the local T20 challenge.
After the Titans has won South Africa’s domestic T20 trophy for three years in a row since the 2015/16 cricket season, they will be dethroned as champions on Sunday 5 May.
The bitter pill that the Titans fans have to swallow this season is that Mark Boucher’s team was not even able to reach the tournament’s semi-finals.
When Rassie van der Dussen hit a huge six over long-on with the last ball of the Titans’ 19th over in Sunday’s last league game of the tournament in Centurion, he didn’t just clinch the Lions’ victory with four wickets but he also sealed the Titans’ fate.
Before Van der Dussen’s whirlwind innings (30 runs off only 19 balls) at the end of the game, a career-best franchise score by Ryan Rickelton helped the Highveld Lions secure top spot on the final log of the CSA T20 Challenge.
The young wicket-keeper slammed 74 off 47 balls as the visitors ensured they will host one of the two semi-finals and a potential final in Johannesburg should they beat the Dolphins, who finished fourth, on 1 Mei.
The Highveld Lions have been in excellent form in their last two regular season games, and after beating the Cobras on the road on Friday, they followed that up with another polished display at SuperSport Park where they chased down a 149-run victory target with six balls to spare.
The Titans beat the Knights from Bloemfontein on Friday at SuperSport Park with six wickets to keep their hopes for a place in the semi-finals alive, but Temba Bavuma and his men from Johannesburg had other plans as they aimed for that first spot on the log.
Rickelton was the star with the bat, but before that the Lions’ bowlers shone after they had won the toss and opted to field first.
Lizaad Williams grabbed three for 32, while Migael Pretorius (2/23) and Wiaam Mulder (2/16) were exceptional. They reduced the defending champions to 47 for four early on.
Farhaan Behardien (48) and Grant Thomson (37) then produced a mild repair job with their 77-run fifth-wicket partnership.
But the Lions bowlers hit back late on to keep the target below 150.
Rickelton, whose previous best score in the competition was 69 against the Cobras earlier this season, then flew out of the blocks as the away side raced to 96 for one by the 12th over.
Tabraiz Shamsi (2/33), Junior Dala (2/22) and Matthew Arnold (2/42) threatened to turn the game late on, but Rassie van der Dussen’s unbeaten 30 carried the Lions to victory.
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.
