An eight-wicket match haul from Hardus Viljoen led the Lions to a massive victory in the Jukskei derby. Chasing 320 to win, Titans imploded against Lions’ pacers, leaving just five wickets to be plucked on the final morning.
The match was over before lunch as Pumelela Matshikwe, who went wicketless despite maintaining exemplary control in the first innings, got among the scalps. Lions’ spinner Eddie Leie also claimed a couple of wickets, including the final one to end an all-round dominant performance by Geoffrey Toyana’s men.
Lions took control early on, after Titans put them in to bat under cloudy skies on Thursday. A 172-run second wicket stand between Stephen Cook and Temba Bavuma set up their first innings. Cook went to on to register a century and Bavuma looked set to do the same but gave it away when he was on 88, dancing down the track to spinner Roelof van der Merwe.
With Thami Tsolekile marshalling the tail, Lions batted deep to ensure even Cobus Pienaar’s late strikes did not allow them to lose the advantage. Pienaar threatened to swing the pendulum with bat in hand. Together with an in-form Heino Kuhn, he put on 158 for the second wicket before becoming Chris Morris’ only victim.
After Kuhn was dismissed, Titans lost three wickets for four runs, all to Viljoen, to leave the Titans on 216 for 6. Farhaan Behardien kept the lower middle order together but Zander de Bruyn’s late strikes ensured the Lions took a 100-run first-innings lead.
Lions openers pressed home the advantage as Cook and Dominic Hendricks shared a 101-run partnership. Once the openers were dismissed, Rowan Richards struck quickly and Lions were in some trouble at 149 for 4. Not one of their last eight batsmen apart from Tsolekile managed double-figures and even though Titans could be pleased with their bowling effort, it was still a tall order for their batsmen.
The match was over on the third afternoon when Morris ripped through the top order. All the top five were dismissed for single figure scores to leave Titans at 20 for 5 overnight. Lions finished up on Sunday morning to take a morale-boosting win after finishing last in the One-Day Cup.