Five teams in chase for final spots in Four-Day Series

In case the six-hitting farce that is the T20 World Cup — the fourth edition in four years — doesn’t take your fancy, the last round of the domestic Four-Day Series provides a more sedate offering, and the possibility of a thrilling conclusion.

On the same day the Proteas start their T20 World Cup campaign against Canada, next Monday, all eight Division 1 teams are in action, starting the last round-robin fixtures of the all-too-brief four-day competition.

Any of five teams could finish in the top two, thereby qualifying for the final, which will be played from February 18.

The Warriors, with the T20 Challenge trophy already locked in the cabinet at St George’s Park, top the points table ahead of the North West Dragons, who have continued the growth they showed last season under head coach Craig Alexander.

Trailing them are the Lions, Western Province and the Dolphins, teams whose seasons have been compromised by call-ups to various Proteas and South African A sides.

The Warriors are five points ahead of the Dragons, but only another eight points separate North West in second from the KZN Dolphins in fifth.

All of which makes for plenty of intrigue with teams engaged in battles on the field, while also keeping a close eye on developments around the country to work out what they need in terms of bonus points and, ultimately, results.

Of the last round of fixtures, it is perhaps the Lions, who shared the title with the Titans last summer, who will feel the most comfortable about their prospects. They face the bottom team, the KZN-Inland Tuskers, at the Wanderers.

The Tuskers are yet to win a match this season, despite batter Malcom Nofal scoring more than 500 runs, while the experienced seamers they acquired in Hardus Viljoen and Daryn Dupavillon have shared 33 wickets.

The Lions, meanwhile, with Conor Esterhuizen, Wiaan Mulder and Delano Potgieter, possess a powerful middle order and, in Bjorn Fortuin, who scored a hundred in Gqeberha in the last round and picked up five wickets, one of the country’s most determined players.

Heading into that last round of fixtures, the Tuskers are also bottom of the promotion/relegation log after losing to the Titans, who leap-frogged them into seventh place on that table.

The Titans, with Lhuan-dre Pretorius, Neil Brand and Simon Harmer in their starting team, will still be chasing victory in Cape Town where they face one of the teams in contention for a spot in the final, Western Province.

For WP, this week’s thrashing of neighbours Boland in Paarl by an innings and 141 runs, provided breathing room in terms of relegation. It also put them in contention for the final, should they beat the Titans, and with World Test Championship heroes Kyle Verreynne — who made a double hundred in Paarl — David Bedingham and Dane Paterson in the side, chasing the 16 points on offer for victory will be irresistible.

The Warriors are in Durban, where a Dolphins side, whose season simply can’t seem to get going, awaits. They were prevented from playing for two days in Potchefstroom in the last round because of a wet outfield, forcing a draw, which hurt both their and the Dragons’ chances.

North West travel to the Cape to face Boland, hoping the good form of Rubin Hermann, Dian Forrester and Ruan de Swardt can continue and lift them into the final.

Meanwhile, Easterns travel to Bloemfontein to take on the Free State Knights in the final of the division 2 competition, starting on Friday. By topping the log in the four-day competition, the Free Staters are virtually assured of a return to the top division next season.

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