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Pretoria - The Sydney Sixers beat the Titans by two wickets off the final ball in their Champions League Twenty20 semi-final at SuperSport Park on Friday night.
The Australian team, with the win, maintained their unbeaten record in the tournament.
The Titans' loss ended prospects of an all-South African final over the weekend.
The Sixers victory was based on tight bowling for the majority of the Titans' innings and a quick-fire first five overs, which produced 54 runs.
The Sixers reached the target off the last ball of the match.
Titans skipper Martin van Jaarsveld rotated his attack to little effect in the face of the Australians' onslaught, as they scored 54 in the first five overs, as three of his four bowlers conceded 10 or more runs in each of their first overs.
The Australians continued punishing the ragged Titans bowling before Michael Lumb was caught a quick-fire 33.
Later, Pat Cummins hit a six to leave the Sixers needing 10 off eight balls before Ben Rohrer was caught in the final over, six runs required off four balls.
CJ de Villiers then bowled a wide, before Cummins and Mitchell Starc scrambled a single off the final ball for a thrilling victory.
The Sixers now face the Highveld Lions in Sunday's final at the Wanderers after the Lions beat the Dehli Daredevils at Kingsmead on Thursday in the other semi-final.
Earlier, the Titans innings started badly, losing three wickets before the end of the sixth over to immediately put themselves under pressure. The Sixers' kept the South African side's run rate on a tight leash due to fine bowling from their quicks.
With four overs to go, the Titans were struggling at 97 for five when David Wiese hit three boundaries off Cummins, including a six, to jolt the restless crowd awake and give the Titans' innings impetus.
Wiese then punished Moises Henriques next over with another trio of boundaries, and Henry Davids brought up his 50 with a boundary as the Titans score suddenly raced into more defend-able territory.
Wiese, top-scorer with 61 and whose 50 was the fastest of the tournament at 25 balls, along with Davids continued scoring boundaries, with their late surge of runs allowing the Titans to finish on 163, a total that looked far away with five overs to go before his assault on the Sixers' bowling.
TITANS – Henry Davids, Jacques Rudolph, Heino Kuhn (wk), Martin van Jaarsveld (capt), Farhaan Behardien, David Wiese, Roloef van der Merwe, CJ de Villiers, Alfonso Thomas, Eden Links, Ethy Mbhalati.
SYDNEY SIXERS – Michael Lumb, Ben Rohrer, Nic Maddinson, Brad Haddin (capt, wk), Steven Smith, Moises Henriques, Steve O’Keefe, Nathan McCullum, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood.
The Australian team, with the win, maintained their unbeaten record in the tournament.
The Titans' loss ended prospects of an all-South African final over the weekend.
The Sixers victory was based on tight bowling for the majority of the Titans' innings and a quick-fire first five overs, which produced 54 runs.
The Sixers reached the target off the last ball of the match.
Titans skipper Martin van Jaarsveld rotated his attack to little effect in the face of the Australians' onslaught, as they scored 54 in the first five overs, as three of his four bowlers conceded 10 or more runs in each of their first overs.
The Australians continued punishing the ragged Titans bowling before Michael Lumb was caught a quick-fire 33.
Later, Pat Cummins hit a six to leave the Sixers needing 10 off eight balls before Ben Rohrer was caught in the final over, six runs required off four balls.
CJ de Villiers then bowled a wide, before Cummins and Mitchell Starc scrambled a single off the final ball for a thrilling victory.
The Sixers now face the Highveld Lions in Sunday's final at the Wanderers after the Lions beat the Dehli Daredevils at Kingsmead on Thursday in the other semi-final.
Earlier, the Titans innings started badly, losing three wickets before the end of the sixth over to immediately put themselves under pressure. The Sixers' kept the South African side's run rate on a tight leash due to fine bowling from their quicks.
With four overs to go, the Titans were struggling at 97 for five when David Wiese hit three boundaries off Cummins, including a six, to jolt the restless crowd awake and give the Titans' innings impetus.
Wiese then punished Moises Henriques next over with another trio of boundaries, and Henry Davids brought up his 50 with a boundary as the Titans score suddenly raced into more defend-able territory.
Wiese, top-scorer with 61 and whose 50 was the fastest of the tournament at 25 balls, along with Davids continued scoring boundaries, with their late surge of runs allowing the Titans to finish on 163, a total that looked far away with five overs to go before his assault on the Sixers' bowling.
TITANS – Henry Davids, Jacques Rudolph, Heino Kuhn (wk), Martin van Jaarsveld (capt), Farhaan Behardien, David Wiese, Roloef van der Merwe, CJ de Villiers, Alfonso Thomas, Eden Links, Ethy Mbhalati.
SYDNEY SIXERS – Michael Lumb, Ben Rohrer, Nic Maddinson, Brad Haddin (capt, wk), Steven Smith, Moises Henriques, Steve O’Keefe, Nathan McCullum, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood.
