Last ball thriller in Benoni
Spectators who attended the Ram Slam T20 Cricket Challenge match between The Unlimited Titans and Chevrolet Warriors, at Willowmoore Park, on Wednesday, January 15, definitely got their money’s worth, with a T20 match that was as explosive as some of the massive sixes that were hit on the evening.
Titans’ skipper Henry Davids won the toss and put the Eastern Cape franchise into bat on a Willowmoore pitch where the team that bats first in this format of the game usually emerges victorious.
The Titans’ bulky batting line-up, however, always fancies a good run chase and this move seemed to pay dividends for Davids and the men in blue.
Top-order contributions from Ashwell Prince and Jon-Jon Smuts meant that the Warriors kept the scoring rate up before Christiaan Jonker and Davy Jacobs helped them rocket to 197.
The pair smashed 54 runs off the last four overs to set up an extremely challenging target for the Titans to chase.
The captain, Davids, was the pick of the Titans’ bowlers, as he bagged figures of 2/15 in three overs.
When the Titans emerged from the dressing room, it was Protea players Farhaan Behardien and the most experienced man in T20 cricket history, Albie Morkel, who helped power the Titans to victory with some master-blasting in a 105-run partnership that proved their international credentials.
Morkel was bowled for 49 with the last ball of the penultimate over, with the home team still requiring 12 runs off the last six deliveries.
Warriors’ captain Davy Jacobs handed the ball to Wayne Parnell, who claimed the wicket of Behardien for a blistering 72, in the second delivery of the over.
Mangaliso Mosehle came to the crease and missed the first delivery, but also managed to score an important boundary off an edge of the next ball, before running a nervy two off the penultimate delivery.
That brought the equation down to two to win off one delivery, and that had everyone at Willowmoore on the edge of their seats.
Mosehle was caught after hitting the last delivery up into the air, but Parnell had overstepped the line by a small fraction.
Numerous replays were required to confirm the illegal delivery.
The batsmen had run one off the no-ball to complete an exciting win for the Titans in the first of two January T20 matches at Willowmoore Park.
The Titans will return to Benoni when they face the Bizhub Highveld Lions on Sunday, January 26, with the match set to start at 2.30pm.
For more information contact the Eastern Cricket Union on 011 746 9000.
