Johannesburg - Saeed Ajmal took his third three-wicket haul in as many matches as the Titans beat the Highveld Lions by six wickets at Willowmoore Park to keep pace with the other RAM SLAM T20 play-off contenders.
VIDEO: Jonty Rhodes on ICC's 'big three'
Ajmal has been ruthless since arriving in South Africa at the start of the week, and has bowled particularly well in tandem with Morne Morkel, who put in another miserly bowling stint that saw him take 2 for 14 from four overs.
In the face of such disciplined trickery from the Titans, the Lions could muster just 142 - 70 of them scored by Quinton de Kock - which the Titans chased down with nine balls to spare.
De Kock smashed three sixes and five fours in his 50-ball innings, but found almost no support at the other end before Ajmal had him caught and bowled at the start of the penultimate over of the innings.
Heino Kuhn’s 43 from 31 balls knocked the top off the chase for the Titans as he put on 82 for the first wicket with captain Henry Davids and, although the Lions hit back with three wickets in four overs, Farhaan Behardien’s unbeaten 31 from 22 deliveries carried the hosts to victory.
The Lions remain winless from their eight matches thus far, while the Titans now have 18 points from the same number of games, which sees them trail the third-placed Sunfoil Dolphins by one point and the second-placed Chevrolet Warriors by two.
VIDEO: Jonty Rhodes on ICC's 'big three'
Ajmal has been ruthless since arriving in South Africa at the start of the week, and has bowled particularly well in tandem with Morne Morkel, who put in another miserly bowling stint that saw him take 2 for 14 from four overs.
In the face of such disciplined trickery from the Titans, the Lions could muster just 142 - 70 of them scored by Quinton de Kock - which the Titans chased down with nine balls to spare.
De Kock smashed three sixes and five fours in his 50-ball innings, but found almost no support at the other end before Ajmal had him caught and bowled at the start of the penultimate over of the innings.
Heino Kuhn’s 43 from 31 balls knocked the top off the chase for the Titans as he put on 82 for the first wicket with captain Henry Davids and, although the Lions hit back with three wickets in four overs, Farhaan Behardien’s unbeaten 31 from 22 deliveries carried the hosts to victory.
The Lions remain winless from their eight matches thus far, while the Titans now have 18 points from the same number of games, which sees them trail the third-placed Sunfoil Dolphins by one point and the second-placed Chevrolet Warriors by two.