First innings stumbles could still impact who sneaks four-day title

WHILE the participating teams at Kingsmead and the Wanderers will be distracted in the final round of what has turned into a dramatic Sunfoil Series, at Willowmoore Park, the Titans will have a very clear focus.

They sit atop the log, albeit narrowly by just 2.4 points from the Knights, but the defending champions know they need not keep an eye on events elsewhere as long as they do their jobs properly in Benoni, where they face the Warriors from today.

Theoretically, all six teams can still win the competition, though the Warriors are a long shot given that they will basically have to prevent the Titans from picking up bonus points while collecting an enormous haul themselves and then beating Henry Davids’ side.

Coach Mark Boucher is very clear that he and his team’s entire focus will be on what’s in front of them and that the only time they’ll be casting a glance at goingson in Durban and Johannesburg is if they have erred in their own game.

“It’s important for us as leaders not to panic,” Boucher said.

“We need to understand that the advantage is with us and if we can just focus on what we do and have a decent game of cricket, then that hopefully will be enough for us to go on and win. So our focus is pretty much in one direction... thankfully we don’t have to worry about anything else.”

The other teams can’t deny they’ll be keeping an eye on what’s going at Willowmoore Park, and in the case of Dolphins coach Grant Morgan openly admitting that tactics could be changed should the top two sides experience difficulties. “If the Titans and Knights don’t get above a certain number of batting points and by lunch on day two we know that, we will exert pressure and hopefully know exactly what we have to do on the final day,” he added.

The chasing pack is, however, also aware that there’s no point getting too worked up if they are not setting a proper foundation in their own games. No one can start chasing the title on the opening morning of play, so the necessary discipline needs to be adhered to initially.

The Knights face the Lions at the Wanderers with the home team hoping their batting, which seemed to click last week in East London, can show similar form against the best new-ball attack in the country.

Marchant de Lange and Duanne Olivier, the latter the leading wicket-taker in the competition with 46, will enjoy bowling at the Bullring, although the Lions are understood to have asked for a dry surface on which they hope to use their spinners and nullify the Knights’ quicks.

It was a strategy that worked for the Cape Cobras last week in Paarl, where Dane Piedt and left-arm slow bowler Kyle Simmonds shared 15 wickets.

At Kingsmead, it’s third against fourth with the Cobras looking to continue their astonishing streak under new coach Ashwell Prince. The Cape side have won three out of the last four games since the tournament resumed, with Prince and skipper Piedt galvanising a dressing room that earlier this season were distracted by CCMA hearings and an intransigent administration that refused to listen to the players.

Now that everyone is pulling in one direction, the results have come, and veterans like Stiaan van Zyl, who scored a century last week, Dane Vilas and Andrew Puttick have all contributed to a successful side who have a genuine shot at the title.

Standing in their way is the Dolphins, who’ve had an up-and-down season that hasn’t been helped by so many of their matches being interrupted by bad weather.

That is something all the franchises will be hoping doesn’t come into the equation over the next four days. It’s a complicated but exciting conclusion anyway and they could all do without rain adding to concerns.