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The perfect start...
Lions went off to a blistering start as their openers, Stephen Cook and Petersen, led from the front to make a partnership of 106. The opening pair was looking to undo their poor start in their previous fixture against the Dolphins by settling in and troubling the Titans bowling attack. Stephen Cook made 55 before chopping off a Marchant de Lange delivery onto his stumps. Petersen departed for 76 when he was caught off van der Merwe. This was the only fruitful and steady partnership produced in the game as both teams gained some starts, however lost it quickly.
A field day for the Titans
One good thing taken from this match for the Titans as a whole is how they performed on the field. After the dismal fielding and bowling display in the last game against the Dolphins, the Titans went back to the drawing board and rectify the embarrassing performance. The Titans, despite struggling to get the opening pair, bowled with discipline, restricting the home side to a good total. The team donning purple only managed to produce 15 extras in this match contrast to the 29 extras before. Their fielding was tight as hardly any catches got dropped, cementing pressure on the Lions, as they were set at one stage to score 280 and more.
Lopsy leads the pack
Man of the match, Lonwabo Tsotsobe, was the pick of the bowlers for the Lions, taking three for 29 off nine overs. Tsotsobe led from the front as he picked up the first two scalps in the first four overs of the innings. His economy rate of 3.22, put pressure on the Titans, whom got bundled out on a double Nelson. Tsotsobe was in fine tune and with this consistency of bowling performances he is definitely ready to get back in the Proteas squad.
David Wiese, Titan’s sole hope
Titans, who boast a strong batting line-up, failed to live up to their expectation by getting out on soft dismissals and misjudged deliveries. David Wiese was the only Titans batsman to prove any threat to the Dolphins bowling attack with his innings of 77. Wiese with his run-a-ball innings steadied the troubling Titans as they stood shaky on 75 for 5. A late flurry at the end by Rowan Richards and Ethy Mbhalati grabbed the Lions away from bonus point victory.
