Titans qualify for play-off phase in One-Day Challenge
After three brilliant consecutive victories in the league phase of Division One of the CSA Provincial One-Day Challenge, the Titans will be in action on their home ground this coming Wednesday in the play-off match to try to qualify for the final.
The Titans cricket team’s hopes of their first national title in three seasons are still alive, after they defeated the Knights in their final match in the league phase of Division One of the CSA Provincial One-Day Challenge on Sunday in Bloemfontein.
This was the Titans’ fourth victory in their seven league matches, after they started to gain momentum last week in Potchefstroom with their brilliant 133-run victory over North West.
The Centurion team is desperate to win silverware for the trophy cabinet at SuperSport Park. Their last domestic title was the CSA T20 Challenge in the 2022/23 season and the last time they managed to win the domestic One-Day Challenge was six years ago in the 2018/19 season.
The Titans’ seven-wicket win over the Knights on Sunday in Bloemfontein secured them second place on the log. Although Neil Brand and his teammates finished with the same points total (21) as the Warriors from the Eastern Cape, their better net run rate ensured they finished second.
Photo: simondp@actionimage
After Brand won the toss, he sent the home team in to bat first at the Mangaung Oval. With the exception of a superb undefeated innings of 109 off 146 balls by Patrick Botha and a decent 42 off 58 balls from Dian Forrester, the rest of the Knights’ batsmen all failed.
The Knight’s tenth wicket – that of Malusi Siboto (2) – fell with the last ball of the match with their score on only 230.
The Titans’ bowlers performed very well and only Tsepo Ndwandwa failed to take a wicket, while Dayyaan Galiem’s three wickets for only 38 runs in 10 overs stood out.
The visitors scored the winning runs in the 39th over, after a captain’s innings of 66 off 85 balls from Neil Brand and a superb unbeaten 83 off only 38 balls from young star, Dewald Brevis. Keegan Petersen (59 off 89 balls) was also unbeaten and completed the innings with Brevis.
The 18-year-old Lhuan Pretorius, who was one of the Titans’ heroes a week earlier in their last home game in Centurion against the Warriors with his 107 off only 69 balls, walked back to the pavilion in the first over in Bloemfontein on Sunday and could only score four runs, while his opening partner, Rivaldo Moonsamy (11 off 14 balls), didn’t do well either.
The semi-final/play-off match is scheduled to take place on Wednesday, March 12 at SuperSport Park in Centurion between the Titans and the Warriors. Although some media reports claim that the Warriors’ position on the log could change due to a breach of the CSA’s quota policy, the national cricket governing body confirmed in a press release on Sunday that the team from the Eastern Cape has indeed qualified for the play-off match.
The winner of the play-off match will meet Boland in the final on Sunday 16 March, after Clyde Fortuin and his team beat WP by 5 wickets in Paarl this past weekend to finish top of the log.
The action of the play-off game will start at 13:00 on Wednesday at SuperSport Park.
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