Sunfoil Series going down to the wire

JOHANNESBURG - As we head into the final weekend of an enthralling Sunfoil Series competition, every franchise in the country still has a full part to play in determining where the four-day title ends up on Sunday evening.

Over the past month, the flagship domestic tournament has well and truly come to life, with bold declarations, positive intent and an apparent lack of fear in the consequences enveloping just about every side.

So much for those who insist that the domestic game is stale and predictable. The result of this shift in mindset has been some exciting finishes, and a title race that has all the ingredients of an English Premiership run-in, save for the dreaded relegation battle. The current basement dwellers, the Warriors, will not be going through the motions this week, as they will visit the log-leaders, the Titans, at Willowmoore Park.

Should they deny the Titans an outright victory, they will open the door for the Knights and the Lions, who will lock significant horns at The Bullring. A draw or loss for the Titans will allow interest the Knights in particular, though Nicky Boje’s men have lost their way at the worst time possible.

January was unkind to them, and a title that looked destined for Bloemfontein is now looking like the Titans to lose, as they lead the Knights by just over 2 points. First innings bonus points, given up to 100 overs, could be decisive if both the Knights and Titans win, given the small margin (94.62 – Titans, 92.24 – Knights) between them.

There are four bowling points up for grabs, but positive intent with the bat may be the way to go, especially on run-rich tracks like Willowmoore Park and The Wanderers. A team scoring 350, for example, will earn 5 batting points, with 1 for reach 150, and then 0.02 points for each run after that.

It will be no surprise, then, to see the Titans giving someone like David Wiese licence to thrill, and the Knights doing the same with Marchant de Lange, perhaps. Ultimately, though, the full house of 10 points for a win is the main banker.

The top two sides will not have it their own way, though, and they have both lost to the fast finishing Cobras in recent weeks. The Cape side may have left their resurgence a bit late, but they will fancy toppling the Dolphins at Kingsmead, and then seeing if the temperamental Jukskei weather throws them the mother of all bones.

Bank on plenty of drama and, much like in the penultimate round, many calls between grounds to monitor the state of affairs of each rival. It is terrifically set up, and all six teams could still have a say on who is champion come Sunday.

Common sense says Mark Boucher’s Titans won’t let it slip now, but there has been nothing common about the 2016/17 Sunfoil Series. Perhaps there is one, final twist to come before the dust settles on Sunday.

Brace yourselves.