JOHANNESBURG – As the Titans blasted out the Warriors in Benoni, the Knights kept pace with them, smashing a hapless Lions attack all around the ‘Bullring’ and keeping the race for the Sunfoil Series title very much alive.
On the first day of the final round of the competition on Thursday, Shaun von Berg led a disciplined effort with the ball from the defending champions as they knocked over the Warriors, currently bottom of the table, for just 187 in 74.2 overs at Willowmoore Park.
Leg-spinner Von Berg claimed 4/59, and along with seamer Malusi Siboto’s 3/40, allowed the Titans to assume control of the first day’s play in Benoni.
It was Siboto’s two early breakthroughs with the new ball that set the ball rolling for the Titans as he picked up the wickets of Gihahn Cloete and Colin Ackermann, the latter the third highest run-scorer in the competition this season, both for five.
The only genuine resistance came from Colin Ingram, who made 49 and Simon Harmer, who finished not out on 46.
The Titans picked up the full house of four bowling points, but will need to match that haul when they bat, given how well the Knights performed at the Wanderers.
The Titans finished the first day on 48/2, with Dean Elgar and the in-form Heinrich Klaasen still at the crease.
Titans spinner Shaun von Berg claimed 4/59 against the Warriors. Photo: Frikkie Kapp, BackpagePix
It’s vital that those two notch up a big partnership for the Knights ended the opening day at the Wanderers on 408/7, a healthy haul of 6.16 batting points.
They were given a great deal of support by some very poor bowling from the Lions, who simply couldn’t maintain a consistent line or length for any reasonable amount of time.
Stephen Cook would have been infuriated with the lack of discipline from his bowlers as they gifted the Knights batsmen far too many easy runs.
The Bloemfontein-based franchise hammered 59 fours and three sixes during the day, and at no point were the Lions able to exert any control.
The visitors gave themselves a solid foundation thanks to an opening stand of 112 between Diego Rosier and Luthando Mnyanda.
Rosier (60) was very much the aggressor in that partnership and the tone he set was followed by the captain Theunis de Bruyn, who played some bruising strokes in an innings of 72 that came off just 87 balls and included 13 fours and one disdainful six, which he clipped over midwicket.
De Bruyn and Pite van Biljon added 94 for the third wicket at comfortably better than four runs an over as the Knights rapidly asserted their dominance.
Even when De Bruyn was out caught behind off Beuran Hendricks, the Knights kept their foot on the accelerator, with Van Biljon and Rudi Second adding 127 for the fourth wicket at close to five runs an over.
Van Biljon notched up his 12th first-class century with a deft dab for two to deep third man, and then followed up with a prodigious pull for four off Temba Bavuma to register the fifth bonus point for batting for the Knights.
He was eventually trapped lbw by Hendricks for 119, which came in 255 minutes off 164 balls and included 19 fours.
The Knights’ lower-order had some fun later, with Marchant de Lange belting a massive six off Keith Dudgeon to register the sixth batting bonus point before darkness saw the umpires take the players off the field.
With their points haul on Thursday, the Knights closed the gap on the Titans – which at the start of the day was 2.4 points, to just 0.22 points.
The Knights will back their bowlers to make better use of the surface than the Lions did, and with the best new-ball combination in the competition in their ranks – De Lange and Duanne Olivier – they’ll reckon on picking up the four bonus points for bowling.