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Titans stumble over last hurdle in domestic T20 Challenge

There was hope that the Titans' trophy drought could come to an end when they qualified for the T20 Challenge final, but the Highveld Lions had other plans in this duel on Sunday.

October 28, 2024
Koos Venter 2 minutes read
During the partnership of 20 runs from just 11 balls between veteran all-rounder Roelof van der Merwe and his captain Heinrich Klaasen, there was still hope that the Titans could achieve a decently defendable score, but when Klaasen's wicket fell in the ninth over, the writing on the wall for the men in light blue. Photo: Cricket SA

The Highveld Lions successfully defended their title as champions in the local T20 Challenge on Sunday at the Wanderers in Johannesburg after beating the Titans by 8 wickets in the final.

This result is a bitter pill for the Titans’ fans, as their team last managed to win any silverware two seasons ago, after years of domestic tournament dominance in the previous decade.

The men from Centurion finished the league phase of the tournament last week in second place on the log. They then beat the Western Province on Friday night at SuperSport Park in Centurion in the last play-off game by 19 runs to qualify for the final against the defending champions in Johannesburg.

It was certainly not Gerald Coetzee’s fault that the Titans could not get over the last hurdle in the local T20 Challenge tournament. His score of 20 off 19 balls with the bat was the best individual contribution for the men from Centurion, while he also picked up the important wicket of Zubayr Hamza during the Lions’ innings.
Photo: simondp@actionimage

At the start of Sunday’s final, Titans captain Heinrich Klaasen won the toss and chose to bat first.

However, the Lions’ bowlers, led by Lutho Sipamla (4/12 in 4 overs) and Kwena Maphaka (2/15 in 4 overs), had the visitors’ batsmen under pressure from the start.

The wickets fell with regularity and the Titans’ last specialist batsman Klaasen (13 off 12 balls) lost his wicket in the ninth over already. This brought the score to 54/6 and the pressure was on the tail end batsmen to not only try and get a respectable score, but also try to finish the innings before everyone was bowled out.

Gerald Coetzee (20 off 19 balls), Andile Phehlukwayo (18 off 19 balls) and veteran Roelof van der Merwe (15 off 18 balls) did their best to save the innings, but the Titans were finally bowled out in the last over for only 119 runs.

In contrast to the Titans, the defending champions needed the services of only four batsmen to reach the winning total (124/2).

The visitors’ bowlers initially tried hard and when Reeza Hendricks (4 off 4 balls) was out in the second over and Zubayr Hamza (20 off 21 balls) in the fifth over, there was a glimmer of hope with the Lions’ score at 26 /2.

However, Rassie van der Dussen (44 off 31 balls) and Connor Esterhuizen (48 off 36 balls) easily achieved the winning total in the 16th over, after Esterhuizen hit the first ball of the over for a six.

This would ultimately be the closest Titans captain Heinrich Klaasen (left) could get to the local T20 Challenge trophy on Sunday, when he posed with the Lions’ captain Bjorn Fortuin (right) before the start of the final.
Photo: Cricket SA

With this victory, the Highveld Lions caught up with their neighbours from across the Jukskei River in terms of statistics in this series. The Titans held the record as the franchise that won the most (6) titles in the series, since its inception in the 2003/2004 season.

The Lions’ triumph in Sunday’s final earned them their sixth tournament title. This means that these two cricket giants from Gauteng have won almost two thirds of the available T20 Challenge titles over the past 21 years.

The Titans’ focus will now shift to the domestic 4-day first class cricket competition, which kicks off this week.

 

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October 28, 2024
Koos Venter 2 minutes read

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Koos Venter

Koos Venter is an experienced journalist who started his career 35 years ago, before the days of cellphones, modern computer systems, the internet and digital cameras, as a correspondent for Nexus, the former national magazine of the Department of Correctional Services. He has since worked for various other publications in all aspects of news coverage, as a columnist and in the production side of newspapers and online publications. Since 2007 he has specialized as a sports writer, while he is also regularly used as an analyst and commentator by several radio stations.
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