CSA T20 CHALLENGE, 2017

Ngidi, Markram set up Titans' crushing win

by Cricbuzz Staff • Last updated on

All-round Aiden Markram hit a 45 before returning to pick three wickets as Titans bagged their third win in a row. © Getty

Titans continued to stay atop the points table after picking up their third win on the trot, against Warriors on Friday (November 17) at the Buffalo Park in East London. Although Titans posted 172 on the board from their 20 overs, they didn't seem assured of a victory as with Warriors getting off to a rollicking start. However, Lungisani Ngidi combined with Aiden Markram to account for seven wickets between them to ensure Warriors fell well short of the target, having been bowled out for just 111 inside 15 overs.

Titans broke a sweat or two in the game only till JJ Smuts and Gihahn Cloete were at the crease. Both hit boundaries at ease to maximise the powerplay impact in their chase. The first five overs saw them fetch 50 but Ngidi returned to pick two wickets in three deliveries as he started the reversal of his team's fate. It continued to slip downhill from there as Tabraiz Shamsi coming in to bowl his first over too picked up two in one over. The following over, Markram bagged two as Warriors lost four wickets for just three runs in two overs. Even though Andrew Birch and Sisanda Magala sent a few hits beyond the fence, the writing was clearly on the wall, as they were bundled out with more than five overs to spare.

Earier, Titans had a poor start to their innings with both openers Quinton de Kock and Henry Davids falling cheaply inside two overs of play. But once Markram walked into the middle, there was hardly anything that seemed to stop him. Hitting a six and a four off Magala in the final over of the powerplay, Markram set the tone for a quick recovery. While he went on to smash his second and final six off Colin Ackermann in the eighth over, Dean Elgar too got into the zone by striking Smuts for two big sixes in one over. Just as the duo looked set to send the Warriors on a prolonged leather hunt, both batsmen fell in a space of 10 deliveries. In between though, Markram added a boundary and a six each.

Albie Morkel and Farhaan Behardien started out in top gear and the latter's two sixes to round off the innings planted the momentum firmly in their favour.

Brief Scores: Titans 172/4 in 20 overs (Aiden Markram 45, Farhaan Behardien 43*) beat Warriors 111 in 14.2 overs (Gihahn Cloete 32; Lungisani Ngidi 4-14, Aiden Markram 3-21) by 61 runs.

Having bagged a win each in their campaign so far, both Dolphins and Knights were looking to go one better over the other. However, the weather gods had other plans as rain refused to relent at the Kingsmead, Durban on Friday. Dolphins had their brief moment of joy when they won the toss and chose to field first in conditions that were perfect for bowling, but incessant rain ensured that there was no play possible. Points were split between the two.

While Knights have a week-long gap before their next game on November 24, Dolphins take the field in a couple of days' time, against Lions at Potchefstroom on Sunday (November 19).

In a thrilling encounter, Lions chased down Cape Cobras' 169 with just seven deliveries to spare. Set to track down a challenging score which was set largely due to skipper JP Duminy's 31-ball 55, Lions found their roar through solid knocks from Reeza Hendricks and Mangaliso Mosehle, before Omphile Ramela and Dwaine Pretorius saw their side through.

Having opted to bat, Cobras lost hard-hitting batsman Richard Levi for a duck but Hashim Amla alongside Wayne Parnell - who came in at number three - batted at comfortable rates to post a 75-run stand for the second wicket. But with both set batsmen departing off back-to-back balls, Cobras ran the risk of being back to square one. However that wasn't the case as skipper Duminy led the show with a belligerent fifty, aided by a quickfire 28 from Temba Bavuma that allowed their team to post 169.

Lions didn't quite get off to the best of starts, losing opener Rassie van der Dussen for just 12 with the team score reading 26 in 4.1 overs. Wicketkeeper-batsman Mosehle first put together a 43-run stand with Hendricks before posting a decisive 63-run partnership with Ramela. While the first partnership came at about 8 runs an over, the second unsettled the Cobras completely as Mosehle and Ramela piled on runs at more than 12 runs an over. Mosehle also raised his fifty during the process, off just 33 balls.

With only 33 to win off the last five overs, Ramela and Pretorius brought the shutters down on Cobras as they finished the chase in 18.5 overs. While this was Lions' first win, Cobras are yet to open their account in this campaign.

Brief Scores: Cape Cobras 169/6 in 20 overs (Jean-Paul Duminy 55; Kagiso Rabada 2-19) lost to Lions 175/3 in 18.5 overs (Mangaliso Mosehle 55; Vernon Philander 1-26) by seven wickets.

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