The South African domestic season ends at the Wanderers on Sunday with the DP World Lions facing the Titans in the final of the CSA One-Day Cup.
In the past few seasons, that traditionally heated local rivalry has swung the way of the Lions, whose player depth is the envy of every other provincial union in the country.
That used to be the case with the Titans, but recently, the Centurion-based union has struggled to fill the holes left by a plethora of national call-ups — to the Proteas and SA A teams – something that wasn’t the case in the past.
As a result, this season, they were in the relegation zone after the T20 Challenge and Four-Day series — having finished third last in the former and second last in the latter.
That they reached the final of the One-Day Cup, having had to win a play-off game on the road in Gqeberha against a Warriors side who won the T20 competition and finished runners-up in the Four Day series, is a noteworthy achievement.
In that play-off match, they had the services of one Roelof van der Merwe, a player who was part of the generation of Titans which established the union as a powerhouse domestically.
He picked up 3/32 in that four-wicket win on Wednesday, and will be a threat against the Lions.
The Titans have relied on performances from a variety of players across a campaign in which a fortuitous rained-out match against the Warriors in the league phase, when they were reeling on 109/8, gave them the two points which put them out of reach of the North West Dragons, and allowed them to claim third spot on the table.
Keegan Petersen and Rivaldo Moonsamy, without scoring heavily, contributed steadily at the top of the order, while Neil Brand’s experience held the rest of the batting together.
In the play-off match, the under-utilised Keagan Lion-Cachet, delivered a vital half-century.
Duan Jansen — twin brother of Marco — has gradually underlined his value, picking up 15 wickets, while Dayyaan Galiem has taken 10 in the tournament.
By comparison with their neighbours, the Lions’ progress to the final has been serene.
They had a few stresses along the way, mainly resulting from having two matches ruined by rain, but the depth at their disposal has stood them in good stead, even as they lost both Conor Esterhuizen and Wiaan Mulder, from their batting unit, to the Proteas in New Zealand.
Zubayr Hamza, shifted to opener and is the competition’s leading run-scorer with an aggregate of 400, runs and with Esterhuizen away, they’ve been able to call up the ODI captain, Temba Bavuma, who’s made scores of 43*, 39 and 0 in the three games he’s played.
They will go into Sunday’s match as favourites, hoping to add the One-Day crown, which they haven’t won in three seasons, to their Four-Day title.
The match should start under sunny skies at 10am, but rain is forecast in the afternoon.
If no result is achieved the Lions will claim the title because they finished on top of the log.
TimesLIVE
Stuart Hess
www.timeslive.co.za
