Behardien blitz underpins Titans' fourth straight win

South Africa finisher Farhaan Behardien did the same job for his franchise, his 33-ball 65 leading Titans to their fourth successive victory in the T20 Challenge, beating Dolphins by 58 runs. After Behardien's seventh T20 fifty carried Titans to 185 for 4, seamer Junior Dala and legspinner Shaun von Berg threw the chase off the track with three-wicket hauls.

Having been sent in, Titans sprinted to 42 for 0 in the Powerplay. Three overs later Imran Tahir provided Dolphins the breakthrough by pinning Grant Mokoena lbw for 25. Cameron Delport and Kyle Nipper then struck in successive overs to send back Jonathan Vandiar and Heinrich Klaasen, bringing Titans to 89 for 3 in 12 overs.

Enter Behardien. He added 93 in 46 balls with Heino Kuhn to pull his team ahead. Kuhn was eventually run-out for 32 off 17 balls in the last over of the innings, but by then Titans had passed 180. Behardien stayed unbeaten with one four and four sixes.

Chasing 186, Dolphins lost Delport early to Dala, but Morne van Wyk and Kevin Pietersen, who was playing his first T20 since picking up a calf injury in the IPL in April this year, gave Dolphins hope with a 44-run stand.

But from the moment van Wyk fell for 41, Dolphins lost six wickets for 13 runs, with von Berg cutting through the middle order. Dala then returned to take care of the tail as Dolphins were restricted to 127 for 8. Pietersen scored 24 as only four Dolphins batsmen reached double figures and suffered their second loss in three matches.

Christiaan Jonker's rapid 48 off 27 balls and three top-order wickets from Basheeru-Deen Walters set up Warriors' 42-run win against Knights in Bloemfontein. A strong opening stand and Jonker's unbeaten knock led Warriors to 157 for 5 before Knights were bowled out for 115. Warriors are now placed second with two wins from three matches.

Warriors openers JJ Smuts and Somila Seyibokwe capitalised on their decision to bat by putting up 47 runs in 5.5 overs. Seyibokwe fell for a 21-ball 29 before Smuts' 38 off 29 led them almost to the halfway mark but Warriors soon lost three quick wickets. Jonker, coming in at No. 5, then blasted four fours and two sixes to help Warriors score 51 off the last 35 balls.

Defending 157, Walters gave Warriors an ideal start by removing the top three Knights batsmen for single-digit scores. Reeling at 23 for 3 in the fifth over, Knights saw some resistance from Rudi Second, Diego Rosier and Patrick Botha but Smuts' left-arm spin accounted for two of them and Knights never recovered from there. Only one other batsman - Marchant de Lange - scored in double digits before Knights were bowled out in 18.2 overs. Walters finished with 3 for 16 while Smuts, Sisanda Magala and Andrew Birch took two each.

Mangaliso Mosehle's fifth T20 fifty helped Lions achieve a three-run Duckworth-Lewis win in a rain-hit match against Cape Cobras in Potchefstroom. Batting first, Lions reached 165 for 5 in 19.1 overs, thanks to wicketkeeper Mosehle's 40-ball 58 and an unbeaten 20-ball 35 from Nicky van den Bergh from No. 6. Then came a rain interruption, which left Cape Cobras chasing a revised target of 70 in six overs.

Richard Levi set the tone for the chase, hitting the first two balls for four and six before Hardus Viljoen bowled him off the fourth ball. With Wayne Parnell and Kieron Pollard continuing to find the boundary regularly, they reached 41 for 1 before Pollard holed out for 26 off 12 balls. Then a Parnell six off Eddie Leie left Cobras needing 21 off the last two overs.

Aaron Phangiso sent down a tight fifth over, conceding five singles and a leg-bye, leaving 15 to get off the last over, bowled by Willem Mulder. Parnell hit another six to narrow the equation, and it came down to four runs required off the last ball before Willem Mulder sealed the match by bowling George Linde.