Aiden Markram’s second successive hundred and legspinner Shaun von Berg’s ten-wicket match-haul lifted the Titans to first place in the Sunfoil Series, as they defeated the Cape Cobras by an innings and 50 runs at Newlands in Cape Town.
Cobras were reduced to 74 for 4 in the first innings after Titans captain Henry Davids put them in. Stiaan van Zyl (65), who was dropped from the South Africa Test squad for the tour of Australia, stitched together a 92-run partnership with Justin Ontong (45) to stabilise the innings. However, they lost 3 for 8 in a span of 8.1 overs, to be reduced to 174 for 7. The tail then managed to drag the score to 235, before von Berg took his fifth wicket to bowl them out.
Markram lost his opening partner Heino Kuhn with only 33 on the board, but put on 122 for the second wicket with Grant Mokoena (59) and 75 for the fourth with Farhaan Behardien (79) as he secured the lead for his team, before falling for 139. Qaasim Adams’ 58-run partnership for the seventh wicket with David Wiese (31) took the Titans to 393 for 7 before a collapse resulted in them folding for 400. Dane Piedt and Rory Kleinveldt took three wickets each for the Cobras.
In the second innings, only four Cobras batsmen managed to get into double figures. Van Zyl (32*) and Ontong (20) once again briefly rescued the innings with a 42-run sixth-wicket stand after coming together at 44 for 5. Von Berg, who had Ontong caught by Wiese for the second time in the match, completed his five-wicket haul shortly after. Henry Davids took the last two wickets as Cobras slumped to their third loss this season.