“This was the most competitive long-format series in the history of our domestic structure.” – Pholetsi Moseki, CSA acting chief executive
Telford Vice | Cape Town
HOW big is 7.42 points in a soup of hundreds? Big enough to decide the champions of South Africa’s 2021/22 first-class competition. The Titans topped the standings by that margin when the last round of fixtures ended on Monday.
But, as late as Sunday evening, they were in third place. The leaders were the Warriors, who were a sliver of 0.44 points ahead of the Lions, with the Titans a further 2.14 adrift. As CSA acting chief executive Pholetsi Moseki was quoted as saying in a release on Tuesday: “This was the most competitive long-format series in the history of our domestic structure, with the teams fighting till the very last day of the series for the title.”
What happened between Sunday evening and Monday afternoon? Essentially, the Titans beat the Lions in Centurion and the Knights and Warriors drew in Bloemfontein. But there was more to it than that.
The Titans took the Lions’ six remaining wickets for 143 runs and then knocked off their nominal target of 62 to win by seven wickets. Central to that drama was Simon Harmer, who bowled more than a third of the overs the Lions faced in the match and took 6/84 in the second innings to finish the game with 9/168. The off-spinner’s sizzling summer haul of 44 wickets at 19.29 made him the competition’s leading bowler.
Mitchell van Buuren’s 103 not out had steadied the Lions’ first innings of 270. The Titans replied with 482, an advantage of 212, with Theunis de Bruyn scoring 143 and seamer Codi Yusuf taking 5/91. Van Buuren was also the Lions’ lynchpin in the second innings, in which he made 107.
In the other key fixture, in Bloem, — and based on Sunday evening’s scenario — victory for the Warriors would have seen them secure the title regardless of results elsewhere. Draws in Centurion and Bloemfontein would also have made the Warriors champions. Had the Lions won and the Warriors not, the Lions would have finished on top. If the Titans and Lions drew and the Knights won, the Lions also would have triumphed.
Rain prevented any play in Bloem on Sunday, so the visitors went into all or nothing mode and declared on their overnight score, which left them 61 runs behind. They had reduced the Knights to 82/8 in their second innings — a lead of 143 — when hands were shaken on the draw. Medium pacer Mthiwekhaya Nabe took 4/26 to finish the match with 7/71.
Patrick Botha’s 123 had served the Knights well in their first innings of 227, in which left-arm fast bowler Tiaan van Vuuren claimed 4/46. The Warriors slipped to 67/3 inside 20 overs before Rudi Second and Diego Rosier scored half-centuries in an unbroken stand of 99 that took them to what turned out to be their declaration total.
As for the also rans in the first division, Western Province beat North West by an innings and 132 runs at Newlands, and Boland and the Dolphins drew in Paarl.
Medium pacer Delano Potgieter had WP captain Tony de Zorzi caught behind in the fourth over of the Cape Town match with a solitary run on the board. But 128 by De Zorzi’s opening partner, Jonathan Bird, and 153 by Daniel Smith helped the home side total 576 despite Potgieter taking 6/87. George Linde claimed 5/69 and Kyle Simmonds, also a left-arm spinner, 4/24 as North West slumped to 202 all out. They followed on 374 behind and were dismissed for 242. No. 4 Senuran Muthusamy was last out for 101.
In the winelands, Keegan Petersen made 123 and Andile Phehlukwayo 107, and fast bowler Achille Cloete and leg spinner Shaun von Berg shared six wickets, in the Dolphins’ first innings of 422. Pieter Malan’s undefeated 219 — which confirmed him as the season’s leading batter with 601 runs at 120.20 in seven innings — allowed Boland to declare at 422/8. Fast bowler Eathan Bosch and off-spinner Prenelan Subrayen took three wickets each.
Northern Cape finished on top of the second division by winning three of their six matches and losing one. The leaders in the promotion-relegation standings after the 2022/23 season will move up to the top tier at the expense of the bottom team in the first division. Currently, the Knights are that team.
First published by Cricbuzz.
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