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Johannesburg - The hesitant, flatfooted Titans batsmen succumbed meekly on Saturday as the Highveld Lions beat them by eight wickets in a domestic four-day match at Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg.
The Lions batsmen kept their cool far better on a tricky Wanderers pitch, posting 212 in their first innings to claim a 65-run lead, and then bowling the Titans out for a meagre 110 in their second innings on Saturday.
That left the southern Gauteng team with a target of just 46 for victory and they knocked those runs off for the loss of two wickets in just 9.5 overs, with captain Stephen Cook scoring 29 not out.
The gentle medium-pace of Brett Pelser was once again the undoing of the Titans as the all-rounder claimed three for 16 in 9.2 overs for superb match figures of seven for 44.
Were it not for the fine resistance offered by Farhaan Behardien, who scored 63, the Titans would have been seen off a long time before the eventual finish two minutes before the scheduled lunch break.
The Titans batsmen were poorly equipped to handle a probing, disciplined Lions attack, in which left-armer Cliffe Deacon claimed three for 30 on Saturday, for six wickets in the match, and Hardus Viljoen took two for 19.
