File photo: Farhaan Behardien’s cameo helped Titans set a competitive total © AFP
Titans beat Knights by 10 runs in Kimberly to open up a 10-point lead at the top of the league standings. Their fifth win in six matches was orchestrated by Heino Kuhn (40) and Farhaan Behardien (37 not out), who helped post 168 for 5. Patrick Kruger nearly knocked off half the target by striking 10 fours and a six in his 60-ball 79, but his dismissal triggered a slide as Knights were restricted to 158 for 6.
Kruger put together a 101-run stand for the second wicket with Theunis de Bruyn, who struck a 34-ball 47. David Wiese triggered the slide when he dismissed de Bruyn and David Miller in quick succession. Even at that stage Knights needed a manageable 62 off 43 balls.
It boiled down to 37 off the last three overs, but some tight death bowling from Lungi Ngidi and Malusi Siboto turned the tide in Titans’ favour. Eventually, 19 off the final over proved too many. The loss meant Knights continued to scrape the bottom of the points table with one win in four matches.
A rapid knock of 49 off 20 balls from Robbie Frylinck could not do the job for Dolphins as they fell six short of their 176-run target against Lions in Johannesburg. Frylinck batted till the last over, off which Dolphins needed 20, but ell on the fourth ball to make the task stiffer for them. Dolphins and Lions are placed third and fourth respectively on the table.
Dolphins had stuttered their way to 108 for 6 in the 15th over as the Lions chipped away. No. 3 Cody Chetty made 35 off 28 to set things up. When Frylinck walked out, they needed 67 runs of five overs. He first struck Hardus Viljoen for two fours in the 16th over before clobbering paceman Matt McGillivray for four, six, four and six in the 18th. Dolphins lost two more wickets but Frylinck brought the equation down to 27 from 12. He collected eight runs off the first three balls of the last over but his wicket turned the match Lions’ way.
When opted to bat, a second-wicket stand of 59 between Rassie van der Dussen (41) and Mangaliso Mosehle (45) helped them cross 100 in the 12th over. Once Imran Tahir dismissed both, quick contributions from their middle order scored 59 runs off the last seven overs.
© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
Source: ESPN Crickinfo