De Kock makes 85 in narrow Titans win

Quinton de Kock, who was left out of the Test series against India despite scoring two centuries during the ODI leg of the tour, struck his first fifty of this Ram Slam season. He made 85 off 51 balls and added 127 with fellow opener Henry Davids to lay the foundation for Titans' tight win against Cobras, in Cape Town.

Though de Kock and Davids were dismissed in the space of three overs, Chris Morris (13), who was promoted to No.3, and Farhan Behardien (16) produced cameos to push Titans to 177, after they were inserted on a drizzly evening.

In reply, Cobras began steadily through Richard Levi and Andrew Puttick. However, the opening partnership was cut short on 65 when pacer Lungi Ngidi removed Levi for 32. Puttick too did not carry on to make a big score. West Indian allrounder Kieron Pollard then took charge of the chase and blitzed 44, including three consecutive sixes off seamer Junior Dala, with support from Justin Ontong (18*) in a 52-run stand. However, Morris swung the balance in Titan's favour in a triple-wicket penultimate over. He first trapped Pollard in front before bowling Sybrand Engelbrecht for a duck. In between, Rory Kleinveldt was also out for a duck.

The 19 runs needed off the final over proved a tough ask for Ontong and Lesiba Ngoepe and Cobras fell short by nine runs. The win took Titans to 25 points from seven games - seven points more than Dolphins and 13 ahead of Cobras, who have a game in hand.

Rain forced the abandonment of the game between Warriors and Dolphins at Buffalo Park in East London, 5.1 overs into Dolphin's innings.

Having opted to bat, Dolphins began quite sedately before Morne van Wyk struck successive fours off pacer Lundi Mbane. Van Jaarsveld followed up with a flicked four before rain arrived. Eventually, the teams took two points each with Dolphins staying second with 18 points from seven games.