Titans win T20 Challenge as Dolphins lose batter
● South Africa’s interim coach Malibongwe Maketa will have an anxious wait to discover the extent of the injury to key Proteas top order batter Keegan Petersen ahead of the three-match Test tour to Australia next month.
Petersen, who is one of the key members of the Proteas Test top batting order, was stretchered off the field with what looked like a serious injury during the CSA T20 Challenge final while fielding for the Dolphins in their loss to the Titans yesterday.
Petersen fell awkwardly to the ground and needed medical attention of about 10 minutes before he left the field in a stretcher in this match that the Titans snatched at the death by four wickets.
In the last Test series against England, where SA lost 2-1, Petersen scored 122 runs in three innings and it will be a huge blow for Maketa and the team if he doesn’t respond positively to treatment and he is not considered for the Australian tour.
He is a member of the top and middle order that is made up largely of captain Dean Elgar, Sarel Erwee, Aiden Markram and Rassie van der Dussen, who missed out on the ongoing T20 World Cup with injury.
The series against Australia is important for SA as it is the penultimate of the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) and the Proteas travel Down Under placed second on the table.
On the field, the Titans overcame a stuttering start to their chase to overcome the Dolphins during a dramatic last over and undo the hard work of Petersen, who scored a delightful knock of 63 off 51 to help his team to a competitive total of 162/3 after they won the toss and chose to bat.
In return, Titans lower order batters Dayyaan Galiem (32) and Donavon Ferreira (40) showed nerves of steel with a matchwinning partnership of 63 as they helped their team over the line on 165/6.
The decision by the Dolphins to bat first backfired early as Grant Roelofsen was caught behind by Donovan Ferreira from the first ball of the match bowled by Ayabulela Gqamane.
After the loss of Roelofsen, Petersen and JJ Smuts rebuilt their innings and they put together a partnership of 115 as they frustrated Titans bowlers Aaron Phangiso, Neil Brand and Junior Dala.
Their partnership was finally broken in the 16th over when Petersen was caught by Simon Harmer off Brand. The third wicket followed with Smuts caught behind by Ferreira off Galiem.
Dolphins ended on 162/3 with Petersen and Smuts the main contributors with scores of 63 and 69, respectively, while unbeaten Jason Smith made an impressive cameo of 27 off 7 balls and Andile Simelane added another 8 to their scoreboard.
It was a tough day for Titans bowlers with Gqamane, Brand and Galiem the only bowlers to find joy with the respective wickets of Roelofsen, Petersen and Smuts.
The Titans got their chase off to a slow start with only four runs scored from the opening over, with teen sensation Devald Brevis scoring two runs, Jiveshan Pillay contributing only one under pressure from Eathan Bosch.
It got from bad to worse for the men from Centurion as they lost the big hitting Brevis in the second over, for only one run, after he was caught by Petersen in the deep from the bowling of Daryn Dupavillon.
Dupavillon returned a few overs later to inflict more pain on the Titans as Pillay was caught at short cover by Smuts and wickets continued to fall as the Dolphins grabbed this match by the scruff of the neck.
After the double wickets success of Dupavillon, Smuts joined the party when he accounted for Titans captain Sibonelo Makhanya (13), who was soon followed by Theunis de Bruyn (32).
Then, Neil Brand (18)was the victim of Smuts and Ferreira was run out but the damage was already done as the Titans crossed the line with two balls to spare.