De Villiers and the Titans thrill in Benoni
Rain again threatened to spoil the T20 cricket action when the unbeaten Multiply Titans met the Warriors at Sahara Park Willowmoore on Friday night, December 1.
Fans were left disappointed the week before when the Titans’ match against the Hollywoodbets Dolphins was called off without a single delivery bowled.
READ:
Not a single ball bowled due to rain
This week’s Ram Slam T20 Challenge match was reduced to 13 overs per side after a brief spell of evening rain forced the match to be shortened.
A good Willowmoore crowd had congregated at the facility and were hoping to be entertained by their heroes, particularly Protea superstar AB de Villiers.
Desperate to finally see some cricket in Benoni, the Willowmoore faithful cheered with delight when groundsman Brendon Frost’s staff pulled the covers off the wicket once the skies cleared.
The Titans were put in to bat by opposing skipper Jon-Jon Smuts and they didn’t go slowly in their reduced innings.
Opening Protea batsman Dean Elgar, more known for his Test match patience and resilience, proved that he can swing the bat in limited-overs cricket.
He hit 44 runs from 23 balls (four fours and three sixes) before he was dismissed in the sixth over with the score at 57/1.
This brought the fan-favourite de Villiers to the crease and he did not hold back.
The batting superstar played an array of top-quality shots, falling just short of a blitz quick half-century.
He smashed 48 runs from 19 deliveries (four fours and four sixes) before he was caught off the bowling of Basheer Walters in the 10th over with the score at 127/3.
Another Protea player, Farhaan Behardien, stepped into the crease and smacked a quick-fire 36 runs from a mere 12 deliveries (four sixes) to a score of 172/3 in the rain-reduced batting innings.
In their reply the Warriors’ only hope with the bat came from their skipper, Smuts, who hit 53 runs from 30 deliveries (two fours and four sixes).
He was not backed up by any of his teammates, though, as the Warriors crumbled to 116/9 in their 13-over innings, a 56-run win via the Duckworth-Lewis Method.
This gave coach Mark Boucher and his men another win in the competition.
The Titans inevitably secured their spot in the semi-finals of the competition with a five-wicket victory over the Knights in Port Elizabeth on Sunday, December 3.
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