AB back for Titans in final

World ranked right-handed batsman AB de Villiers makes his first home appearance since his record-breaking Pakistan innings on Friday when the Titans face the Knights in the MTN40 final at SuperSport Park.

De Villiers scored 278 not out for the Proteas in the second Test match against Pakistan at Abu Dhabi to beat the previous best of 277 by Graeme Smith against England at Edgbaston in 2003.

The Titans have a run of eight successive victories in the competition, Cricket SA said in a statement on Thursday.

The Knights may not have a De Villiers in their ranks, but they do have an in-form Morne van Wyk as their lead-off batsman, backed by some of the best young talent in the country in the form of Dean Elgar, Reeza Hendricks and Rilee Rossouw.

The Titans got through to the final without De Villiers and fellow Protea Morne Morkel, CSA said.

A feature of their play has been the way their players have stood up to be counted when it really mattered.

Roelof van der Merwe has left nobody in any doubt that he wants his place back in the Proteas' squad and he has done the talking with bat and ball.

Jacques Rudolph and Faf du Plessis cannot be far away from international recognition either now that they have renounced their Kolpak status.

Ethy Mbhalati is another who has led the Titans from the front in all the domestic formats so far this season.

Limited overs matches are normally won with the bat, but the role of the bowlers is becoming more and more important now that the 13-man format allows teams to bat all the way down the order. The only way to stop the onslaught is by taking wickets.

The new ball spells of Mbhalati and the Morkel brothers, for the Titans, and Johannes van der Wath and Ryan McLaren, for the Knights, could be vital.

McLaren has used good domestic form to bowl his way back into the Proteas' Test squad and he will have the opportunity to warm up for a possible showdown with India at the same venue in a week.

One factor that may help the Titans is the 13-man format.

They possess the depth that is probably the envy of every other franchise, particularly in the all-rounder department, and that may make the difference in the end.