A magical spell of bowling by David Wiese helped the Titans come back from a dire situation to rescue a superb tie against Western Province on T20 Challenge double header day in Johannesburg on Saturday.
There was also a first win of the campaign for Tuskers as they flattened hosts Lions by 8 wickets on the DLS Method, but it was all about the remarkable comeback for the side from north of the Jukskei at the Wanderers Stadium.
Batting first after losing the toss, they scrambled their way to a modest 147/7 thanks in the main to a dashing 37 off 23 balls by South Africa Under-19 star, Lhuan-dre Pretorius, and an unbeaten 39 by Proteas all-rounder Neil Brand.
Wayne Parnell, Beuran Hendricks (both 2/23) and George Linde (2/25) all played pivotal roles in restricting the defending champions.
Flying start
Then in reply, Province made a flying start and were charging along on 92/0 thanks to Edward Moore (55 off 52 balls, 5 fours, 1 six) and David Bedingham (49) when Wiese was introduced to inflict a damning reversal.
With rain looming, he then removed rising South Africa batsman Bedingham and Kyle Verreynne (6) in successive overs and also took out Linde (17) and Onke Nyaku (0) with back-to-back deliveries at the end of the 19th over to stun the Cape side.
Veteran Wiese was also aided by Tabraiz Shamsi (2/31), and with 10 needed from the last over, got most of what they required only for the weather to intervene and help the Titans claim a famous tie.
Saturday’s earlier match was also affected by the elements as the home side could only manage 90/5 in the 15 overs they were allowed to face on account of the rain.
Keith Dudgeon was brilliant for the KwaZulu-Natal side, claiming the unbelievable figures of 3-1-5-4, which included reducing the Lions to their knees at 0/3 and 3/4 after 2.4 overs.
There were ducks for Rassie van der Dussen, Temba Bavuma, Mitchell van Buuren and Reeza Hendricks, before Wiaan Mulder (36*) and Evan Jones (29*) took their side to a total of some respectability.
Cameron Delport ensured there was no stutter from the Tuskers by crashing 39 off 28 balls to help them complete a first win of the campaign with 3.2 overs to spare.
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