Central Gauteng Lions spinner Bjorn Fortuin was disappointed to draw the 4-Day Series final against the Northerns Titans, which saw the teams share the title. KHUNULOGO MPOLOKENG reports.
The Titans saved the match by batting for the entire duration of the fifth and final day at the Wanderers on Monday, eventually being bowled out for 371 with a lead of 81, by which time the light was no longer good enough to continue.
This was after the visitors started the day in a precarious position on 118-3 in their follow-on second innings, trailing by 172, after the Lions declared their first innings on 413-7 on day three.
Star teenage batsman Lhuan-dre Pretorius scored a key 114 off 209 balls (13 fours) and batted for 70 of the more than 88 overs played on the day.
It was a frustrating result for the Lions, who had finished top of the log. The first four sessions of the final were also lost due to a wet outfield.
“To be brutally honest, it feels like we lost the game today, considering the position we were in,” said Fortuin. “All credit to Lhuan-dre and Moony [Rivaldo Moonsamy, who made 79], they batted exceptionally well. And that happens in cricket; you get guys who perform at important times for their teams and they did that today, which made it a lot more difficult for us to get the win, especially with time being taken out of day one and it being lost at the end of day’s play for most of the game.
“It’s one of those things that happen in red-ball cricket; you can’t fault the efforts in our team, it would have been a monumental effort to take 20 wickets on that pitch. Our batsmen did what they had done all season.
“The effort can’t be faulted, but it is a bitter-sweet moment knowing that there was the opportunity to kill the game off, but unfortunately we didn’t do that,” added Fortuin, who finished with match figures of 8-150.
REPORT: Lions, Titans share 4-Day Series title
Fortuin also gave his assessment of their domestic season after the Lions also retained the T20 Challenge earlier in the campaign.
“In a word, I’d say decent. We do set high standards for ourselves knowing that we’ve achieved greater heights in the past seasons and we are still capable of achieving greater heights.
“We let ourselves down in the One-Day Cup and that’s the nature of the beast. We are one of the few teams that constantly lose players to the national side, which has been good for us in the past for our player-development because fringe guys step up and become important players for us, but at times it can also spread you thin, and we saw that in the one-day competition.
“There are lessons to be taken from that, we won’t shy away from that. I’m sure if we take everything with a matured mindset, it will make us better in the future.”
Photo: Sydney Seshibedi/Gallo Images
