The Titans managed last week in Bloemfontein to ward off a huge onslaught from the Knights and achieve their third consecutive draw in the national 4-Day Domestic Series.

In the process, however, Mark Boucher‘s men moved down to third place on the competition’s log with the tournament that will now be interrupted while the Mzansi Super League is set to take place in the next six weeks.

After the Knights captain, Pite van Biljon, last week won the toss and elected to bat first, the home team continued to record 541/7 before declaring.

After that, it looked as if the men from the Free State would easily win the game when their bowlers dismissed the Titans for only 211 in their first innings and Grant Thomson’s men were forced to follow on.

However, openers Victor Mahlangu (94) and Wesley Marshall (98) led a colossal second-innings batting effort that ended with Junior Dala and Lungi Ngidi the heroes as the Momentum Multiply Titans managed to salvage a draw from their round-four encounter in this series.

Needing to bat out the final day, which they had resumed on 145 for none in their second innings, the visitors finished on 367/8 in their follow-on innings that dragged deep into the final day.

After their rookie openers put on 203 for the first wicket, the ever-reliable Farhaan Behardien did his part with 81.

Among the rest of the batsmen, only Heinrich Klaasen recorded a notable score (30) and when the veteran Behardien fell, there were still 20 overs to go, leaving Dala and Ngidi to face the music.

The pair managed to fend off everything the Knights threw at them, finishing with 11 off 92 balls and five off 49 balls respectively as Mark Boucher’s men survived.

The Centurion-based side had been on the back foot for most of the game, so the result is certain to still give them plenty of confidence heading into the break in calendar, which will now see the Mzansi Super League take centre stage over the next six weeks.

Former Titans bowler, Shaun von Berg, was the danger man for the Knights. He took six wickets in the game with bowling figures of 2/86 in 27 overs during the Titans’ first innings and 4/92 in 44 overs during the Titans’ second shift in front of the wickets.

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