WP have to settle for dramatic tie after rain saves Titans

Western Province (WP) tossed away what looked like a comfortable victory and had to settle for a tie, in a dramatic end to their Cricket SA T20 Challenge match against the Multiply Titans at the Wanderers on Saturday.

Province, needing just 10 runs to win with eight balls remaining, lost wickets off consecutive balls in the penultimate over, and as the Titans were celebrating substitute fielder Aya Gqamane’s ludicrous diving catch which led to the dismissal of Onke Nyaku, the heavens over the Bullring opened.

The players sprinted off the field, never to return.

With WP on 138/6, according to the Duckworth/Lewis/Stern calculation, the scores were tied, and because the weather ended proceedings, no “super over” was allowed, meaning both teams earned two points apiece.

WP will be kicking themselves because they were cruising to victory in pursuit of a modest target of 148 in the first match of a double-header.

Their openers David Bedingham, who scored 49 off 32 balls, and Ed Moore, who made 55 off 52 deliveries, shared an opening partnership of 92 in just 11 overs. But when Bedingham was dismissed, giving the veteran David Wiese the first of his three wickets, the rhythm of the WP innings changed rapidly.

Suddenly wickets were gifted to a Titans bowling unit, which before then had seemed bereft of ideas and confidence.

It has been an unusually troubling season for the Titans, who — despite yesterday’s points — still find themselves sixth in the competition, outside of the play-off spots.

While the tournament still has a month remaining, the defending champions find themselves in a position where they need to quickly get their house in order, lest they suffer an unusual occurrence — completing a season sans a trophy.

After finishing fifth in the One-Day Cup, the Titans lost their final round-robin match in the Four-Day competition, and missed out on a spot in the final to their provincial neighbours, the Central Gauteng Lions.

After winning their first two matches in the T20 Challenge, the Titans suffered three defeats in a row — two of them narrowly — and were heading for a fourth until Mother Nature’s intervention yesterday.

Their batting lacked composure and rhythm, and it was only when Neil Brand, whose T20 record isn’t especially intimidating, but who has often had to perform a rescue job in the middle order, came to the fore late in the innings that they put WP under any pressure.

Brand’s unbeaten 39 off 26 balls, saw the Titans reach 147/7, but with only the teenager Lhuan-dre Pretorius providing support at the top of the order with 37, one of Northerns’ many problems was made clear.

Until Bedingham’s dismissal, the Titans’ bowling lacked spark and they will be desperate to have Lungi Ngidi return in the next couple of weeks.

The sight of the big fast bowler, looking close to full fitness while bowling a few deliveries during the innings break will be a welcome sight for the under-fire Titans head coach Mandla Mashimbyi.

His future in that position may well be dependent on Ngidi making a big impact when he returns to play, and hopefully help the Titans to move up the table.

For WP, the outcome will be a sickening one. Kyle Verreynne’s troops will be livid that they threw away a full tally of points with some irresponsible batting. After the openers had provided such a good start, George Linde’s 17 was the next best score with Verreynne and Tony de Zorzi, two experienced players making just 6 and 2 respectively.