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Knights cruise past Titans

Benoni - The Knights wrapped up an emphatic ten-wicket victory over the Titans in their Sunfoil Series clash at Willowmoore Park on Sunday.

After the hosts slumped to 181 all out leaving the visitors with just 42 to get, tea was taken early and the Knights openers made light work of the chase after the break, with Gihahn Cloete and Michael Erlank knocking off the runs in 10.2 overs.

The Titans were in a heap of trouble as they went to lunch on 119-6, still 21 runs behind the Knights’ first innings total, with only Heino Kuhn managing a score of significance, as he scored 51 off 111 balls before he was dismissed and the Titans were left in tatters.

Dillon du Preez was at the heart of the Knights resurgence on Saturday when he combined with Rudi Second for a record 253-run partnership. The stand between the two is the highest for the eighth wicket for the Knights franchise. The two helped their side recover from being 190-7 to 457 all out, giving them a handy 140 run lead on the first innings.

The Titans fell to pieces in the last hour of play on Saturday as they stumbled to 24-3, after being 0-3 at one stage and faced a mammoth task if they wanted to salvage anything positive from the match.

Kuhn looked like he might just pull a rabbit out of a hat, but it wasn’t to be. Despite his resilience, the disastrous slump continued for the Titans on Sunday morning. Henry Davids was the first to fall, being caught leg-before by Du Preez, and Graeme van Buuren soon followed. Van Buuren hit an unbeaten 55 in the first innings, but couldn't follow it up in the second innings with Du Preez being on song yet again. Kuhn had looked settled for a while, but Patrick Botha soon took care of him, bowling the 28-year-old.

Roelof van der Merwe put up some fight with the bat, adding 65 off 86 balls lower down the order, but there was nobody to stick around with him and the Titans folded as the Knights bowlers had a field day.

Du Preez, the star of the show in more ways than one, finished with figures of 20-7-53-5 in the second innings.

The Titans are now still without a win in six games and, with the business end of the season approaching, the defending champions could very well end the season at the bottom of the table.

Teams:

Titans: Pieter Malan, Mangaliso Mosehle, Henry Davids (captain), Roelof van der Merwe, Heino Kuhn, Farhaan Behardien, Graeme van Buuren, JP de villiers, Shaun von Berg, Ethy Mbalathi, CJ de Villiers

Knights: Gihahn Cloete, Michael Erlank, Rudi Second, Rilee Rossouw, Ryan Bailey, Obus Pienaar, Patrick Botha, Johan van der Wath, Dillon du Preez, Quinton Friend, Malusi Siboto
 
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