The Titans and Warriors played out to a rain-affected draw in their 4-Day Franchise Series encounter at SuperSport Park.
The match petered out to a draw in Centurion on Monday as neither side was able to put themselves in a winning position after most of day two and day three of the encounter had been washed out by the rain.
After winning the toss and electing to bat first, the Warriors posted a competitive 307 in the first innings before bowling the Titans out for 267 runs. They then blitzed their way to 166-2 off 31 overs in the second innings before the two captains shook hands after tea on the final day with a victorious result for either team improbable within the time remaining.
The Warriors’ opening batsman Edward Moore earned himself the Player of the Match award thanks to an unbeaten century in the first innings and an aggressive half-century in the second, reaching 73 runs off 84 balls (nine fours, one six) before being bowled by Dean Elgar.
Fellow Warriors opener Clyde Fortuin’s fortunes were on the opposite end of the scale, as he succumbed for a duck and six runs in the first and second innings respectively. Fortuin’s woes with the bat continued from last season as he faced a total of 13 balls at the crease in both innings, with Chris Morris accounting for both his dismissals after getting the batsman to nick the ball behind for simple catches to second slip and the keeper respectively.
It was Theunis de Bruyn who lead the Titans’ reply in their only batting innings as he recorded a century for the home team, while many of their star players failed to make an impression with the bat. Anrich Nortje (18.3-5-67-4) and Simon Harmer (22-4-71-4) caused most of the trouble for the Titans as the two bowlers helped secure a first innings lead for the Warriors.
Morris was the pick of the Titans attack after securing six wickets in the first innings before snaring one of the two wickets to fall in the Warriors’ second innings, finishing with match figures of 7-123 off 26 overs. His economy rate took a battering in the second innings, however, as Moore and Yaseen Vallie (69 off 80 balls, 11 fours) took the opening bowler to the sword on the final day.
The rain had the greatest impact on the encounter, with only 33.1 overs of match play possible throughout the weekend as the rain came down heavily and consistently.
The Titans and Warriors sit fourth and fifth on the log respectively after two rounds of fixtures.
Photo: Ashley Vlotman/Gallo Images