Titans win thriller to keep T20 Challenge semifinal hopes alive

Who needs 500 runs for entertainment? The Titans and Lions produced a thrilling encounter that saw the home side claim victory by sprinting a bye off the final ball, with neither team coming close to making 200. 

Corbin Bosch, who smashed three boundaries in the last two overs, played and missed Codi Yusuf’s final delivery and took off down the pitch, with batting partner Lungi Ngidi doing the same from the non-striker’s end. Lions wicketkeeper Ryan Rickelton’s first throw missed at the striker’s end and Yusuf who’d gathered that throw then missed at the non-striker’s end with Bosch still short of his ground. 

Bosch walked off the field with his arms outstretched having ensured the Titans still have their destiny in the CSA T20 Challenge in their own hands. They head to Cape Town on Sunday where should they avoid defeat against Western Province, they will be in the play-offs. 

The Lions meanwhile, though top of the table, could slip down to second place if they lose at home to the KZN-Inland Tuskers. 

Whatever happens on Sunday, another encounter between the Gauteng rivals — whether in the semifinal or final — would be no bad thing for the competition. Their previous encounter saw them separated by just one run at the Wanderers and last night showed, that while there may be a gap between them on the points table, the rivalry between them makes for a gripping contest. 

It was by no means an attractive one, and the kind of run-scoring in evidence in the IPL in the last week, was not seen at SuperSport Park, where the match played out on an uncharacteristically ‘tacky’ pitch. 

On Friday however batters on both sides struggled to time the ball, and a more workmanlike effort was required. The Lions scored just 154/8.

Reeza Hendricks was forced to swap elegance for efficiency, needing to make use of the extra time spent in the gym, to muscle the ball to the boundary. He was starting to get accustomed to the conditions, and was setting himself up to anchor the innings until he was given out lbw by umpire Allahudien Palekar after scoring 48. 

Hendricks' body language was backed up by the television replays which suggested the ball from Tabraiz Shamsi was spinning past the leg stump. 

The rest of the Lions batters struggled to find any rhythm on the slow-paced surface, which was cleverly exploited by the Titans for whom David Wiese and Dayyaan Galiem starred, conceding a combined 42 runs in eight overs, while each also claimed a wicket. 

Lu-handre Pretorius and Titans captain Neil Brand were the highest scorers for the home team, with each making 29, and it took Galiem’s 26 off 12 balls — an innings in which he threw himself off his feet to hit three fours and two sixes — to keep the Titans in touch. 

For the Lions leg-spinner Nqaba Peter again impressed, picking 2/29, bowling three of his overs at the ‘death’. 

Then came Bosch, some lax fielding from the Lions, a sprint from Ngidi, misses from Rickelton and Yusuf and cheers from the home crowd. A thrilling finale to the round-robin phase of the competition awaits on Sunday.