The Titans dominated their first day’s play against the Knights at Centurion as they made a furious attack to snatch the Sunfoil crown.
Having spent the first two days watching the rain come down, and with each side needing a win to have a chance of snatching the title, both sides batted 40 overs.
The Knights might have felt they did well to reach 169-7 at 4.2 an over, but the Titans replied with an incredible 269-3.
It was T20 times two: Heinrich Klaasen led the way in terms of strike-rates, smashing 84 off 56 balls, with nine fours and four sixes, striking at 150. Earlier, Heino Kuhn slammed 86 off 82 (13×4, 1×6), and a comparatively pedestrian 104.
Andrea Agathangelo contributed 48 off 42 in an opening stand of 71 off 11 overs.
Then the Titans struck equally hard with the ball, with Chris Morris taking the wickets of Luthando Mnyanda and Keegan Petersen without a run on the board. Grant Mokoena fell to Malusi Siboto at 18, before David Miller (36) and Rudi Second (21) saw out the remarkable day at 62-3.
The Knights are still 38 runs behind and can expect the Titans to come hard at them on the last day of play, weather permitting, for they need a win.
In the meantime, the Titans have picked up a handy 6.38 bonus point (3.38 batting, 3 bowling).
In Potchefstroom, the Cobras are unlikely to gain a win after the Highveld Lions ran up 325 in reply to the Cobras’ first offering of 217 – a lead of 108. It gave them a bonus points tally of 6.34. At the close of day three, they were 106-1, trailing by two.
The Warriors have been hard hit by the weather, too, for only 63 overs were possible in Durban. They scored 245-5, picking up 2.9 batting points.
At the start of the final round, the Warriors (128.04) led the race with the Cobras (127.02), while the Knights (124.32) and the Titans (121.58) were all in with a chance. The Dolphins (114.44) also had a mathematical chance of winning the four-day crown.
Now it stands with the Cobras on 133.36, the Warriors on 130.94, and the Titans on 127.96. If this round ends in a draw all round, as so many have before, the Cobras will snatch it.
Dolphins vs Warriors scorecard
Photo: Lefty Shivambu/Gallo Images
