Cobras in spitting distance of title

With the final round of Supersport matches to be played from Thursday to Sunday, the Cape Cobras are virtually ensured of claiming the title for the first time since the introduction of the franchise system in 2004/05.

The Cobras have a healthy 16 points lead over the Titans, who are the defending champions.

While there is a very small chance the Titans could make up the difference with an exceptional batting performance in their match against the Diamond Eagles at Supersport Park in Centurion, they would need the Cobras to play exceptionally badly in their match against the Warriors in Port Elizabeth if they were to snatch the title away from the log leaders.

Although the Cobras have lost several of their key players to the Indian Premier League (IPL), they are still likely to be too strong for the Warriors, who are also without some of their top players, including Rusty Theron, who has been one of the outstanding bowlers this summer.

Theron is currently doing duty for the Chennai Super Kings in India. The Cobras have lost just one match this season, winning five and drawing three, while the Warriors have lost four, won three and drawn two.

The Titans pulled off a nail-biting victory over the Highveld Lions at Willowmoore Park last weekend, despite the absence of their Proteas players as well as four senior team members — Ethy Mbhalati, Paul Harris, Francois du Plessis and captain Pierre Joubert.

It is not clear whether these players will be available for the match against the Eagles.

The Titans’ victory was largely as a result of an outstanding performance by 21-year-old debutant Hardus Viljoen, who took five wickets in the Lions’ second innings to dismiss them for 114, and then shared in ninth wicket stand of 70 that enabled the Titans to chase down the 309 runs required for victory.

The Eagles will be playing without their wicketkeeper captain, Morne van Wyk, who has been suspended for one match after the Eagles were penalised for a slow over-rate. The Eagles also had six penalty points deducted from their match total of 20.68.

The final match of the weekend is between the Lions and the Dolphins at Kingsmead in Durban.

The Lions have won only one match this season, but have the highest number of batting and bowling bonus points.

They will have something to prove after dominating most of their match against the Titans last weekend, only to lose on the last day, and could be too much to handle for the young Dolphins team.

The home side, who are at the bottom of the log, recently shed a number of senior players and are in the process of redeveloping their team.