AB fires Titans to the top
CRUSHING WIN: DE VILLIERS SMASHES 75 OFF 62 BALLS
Rampant Titans win with astonishing 21.5 overs to spare.
With AB de Villiers in imperious form and an inspirational bowling performance from their attack, the Titans swept the Warriors aside by seven wickets with 21.5 overs to spare in their Momentum One-Day Cup match at Willowmoore Park in Benoni yesterday, earning a bonus point to put themselves in top spot heading into the final round of fixtures.
The Warriors had elected to bat first but were three down inside the first half-hour thanks to superb new-ball bowling by Chris Morris and Lungi Ngidi.
Morris set the tone and swung the ball into Gihahn Cloete’s stumps with just the second delivery of the match, before Ngidi struck twice in the sixth over to remove Colin Ingram (4), Junior Dala taking a super boundary catch, and Colin Ackermann (0), who edged a beauty to be caught behind.
Opener Jon-Jon Smuts stayed in for another hour with Yaseen Vallie in an effort to rescue the situation, but was caught down the leg-side off Malusi Siboto to end a fourth-wicket stand of 66 off 87 balls.
Vallie scrapped away to make 44 off 61 deliveries, but the return of Morris saw him caught behind by Heino Kuhn and Kelly Smuts was bowled by a superb, swinging delivery, which he left, to give the international all-rounder excellent figures of 3/30 in his eight overs.
Jerry Nqolo fought hard with the tail to score 26, but fell to a short ball from Dala, as did Sisanda Magala (2), as the Zambian-born fast bowler took 2/26 in 7.2 overs including his 50th List A wicket in his 39th match.
Ngidi was the other chief wicket-taker with an impressive 3/32 in eight overs, while the tricky wrist-spin of Tabraiz Shamsi went for just 28 runs in 10 overs, as the Warriors were bowled out for only 147 in 41.2 overs.
The Titans lost an early wicket when Jonathan Vandiar (1) was caught in the slips off Andrew Birch, but the busy Kuhn scored 23 as did Aiden Markram, who fell to one of the occasional deliveries that kept low, Birch scuttling one through at shin-height to hit his off-stump.
But the class of De Villiers was immediately apparent as he hit his second and third balls for four and collected 10 fours and a six in all, playing some magnificent strokes in his 75 not out off 62 balls as he and Farhaan Behardien (24*) added the last 87 runs off 94 deliveries.