Strong finishes from Farhaan Behardien and Albie Morkel saw the Titans beat the Cobras by six wickets to continue their perfect record.
The result was another damaging conclusion for Paul Adams’ Cobras, who have yet to win a competitive match all season.
The Cobras lost three and drew two of their first five Sunfoil Series matches, and now they’ve suffered back-to-back T20 Challenge matches. The Titans, in contrast, top the Sunfoil standings and have won two out of two in the shortest format.
The worst part about it is that the Cobras were in a winning position. The run rate escalated close to 11 an over on a slow pitch with long boundaries. The fact that no T20 total of 140 or more had been chased down at Boland Park made the task even trickier for the visitors.
But the experienced heads of Behardien and Morkel made it look simple towards the end with a 52-run stand to see them over the line.
The Cobras struggled to get going throughout their innings despite useful contributions from Cebo Tshiki (47 off 43) and Jason Smith (38 off 41), but Kieron Pollard (32 off 19) gave them a bit of impetus, smacking 23 off the final over to get them to 141-6.
Dane Paterson then clattered Henry Davids’ stumps with the first ball in response, but Heinrich Klaasen kept the Titans in the hunt with his best T20 score for the franchise (46 off 39). With 50 needed off five overs it was anyone’s to win, but it was easy in the end. Behardien scored 22 off 16, skipper Morkel 34 off 16, to see them home with seven balls to spare.
There was a one-sided affair at Kingsmead, meanwhile, as Cameron Delport smacked 93 off 62 to help the Dolphins beat the Lions by 49 runs.
The Dolphins posted 193-4, and Delport continues to look a frightening prospect in the shortest format as he put on a 124-run opening stand with Morne van Wyk, who hit 60 off 37 balls.
The Lions weren’t clearing the ropes enough as they were always behind in the chase. Dominic Hendricks top-scored with 46, but he used up 34 balls for them, while Nicky van den Bergh’s 43 off 33 deliveries was also never going to be enough.
Deport backed up his batting with career-best bowling figures too, notching up 4-17 as the Lions were bowled out for 144.
Photo: Petri Oeschger/Gallo Images
