The Titans are in prime position to finish top of the One Day Cup standings providing they can beat bottom-feeders the Cobras on Thursday.

The Centurion-based side are favourites for a home final, which will be guaranteed by a win against the Cobras in Centurion. The visitors stand no chance of qualifying for the playoffs, and will be playing purely for pride in their final match of a dismal domestic season.

Mark Boucher’s men are seeking a limited-overs double after winning the T20 Challenge earlier in the campaign, but the coach is wary about making plans for the final before getting there.

‘We have a lot of respect for the Cobras, even though they may not have done well in the competition,’ he said. ‘They certainly are a dangerous side and showed that in the four-day competition as well.

‘They were bottom of the table and they came up here to Pretoria and they beat us, so they certainly are a side to watch out for, even though they haven’t been playing great cricket. You look at that side on paper and they have very dangerous cricketers.’

A defeat, however, will open the door for the Dolphins, who will have to beat the Knights with a bonus point in Durban.

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‘We won’t be taking them lightly at all, we’ll give them the respect they deserve as a franchise and we know we have a game to win if we want to secure that automatic route to the final,’ Boucher explained.

The men from Pretoria are no strangers to high-stakes games. They thumped the Warriors in their latest match on Tuesday to move into a strong position heading into the last round of games.

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‘We’ve had three very good games out of a run of four so far that we wanted to win,’ Boucher added. ‘We have one more tomorrow and then hopefully if we win that then we get a home final.

‘Anything can then happen in the final, but we want to first end this stage of the competition well. That’s the first thing we want to do.

‘I know that there are different permutations even if that game doesn’t take place tomorrow. But certainly, we’re looking to go out there and secure a home final tomorrow. We can do that by beating the Cobras.’

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