CLT20: Bowlers deliver the first win for Titans in a low scoring thriller

Marchant de Lange (L) bowled a terrific spell of 4-0-13-3

Chasing 124 to win against Titans in their Champions League T20 clash in Mohali, Brisbane Heat fell short by four runs as a result of an excellent bowling effort from the Titans’ bowlers.

Brisbane captain James Hopes won the toss and opted to bowl first, on a surface that was expected to offer plenty of runs, hoping to make use of the moisture on the pitch.

Jacques Rudolph was dismissed in the second over of the match, caught at cover point of the bowling of Matthew Gale. Heino Kuhn, coming in at number 3, and Henry Davids were quiet for the first four overs, which yielded only 20 runs. But then, the pair shifted gears, taking 16 runs of Alister McDermott’s first over- the sixth over of the match.

They scored 69 runs off 50 balls, before Kuhn (31) top edged Ben Cutting to Daniel Christian. The wicket sparked a spectacular collapse with both Davids (39 off 31) and AB de Villiers (28 off 19), who looked in sublime touch, run out in a mix-up with their partners.

From 70 for 1, Titans were all out for 123 in 18.5 overs, losing their last nine wickets for just 53 more runs. The Titans batsmen found Nathan Hauritz, who ended up with figures of 4-0-14-1, difficult to get away while Gale returned to clean up the tail by picking up three wickets in the penultimate over.

In reply, Brisbane batsmen made a complete meal of what could have been an easy chase. Both Joe Burns, who showed a glimpse of his talent in the match against T&T, and Cutting, who was impressive as well, played irresponsible shots to get dismissed for a duck while Peter Forrest glanced it straight to square leg.

Hopes and Christian stemmed the flow of wickets by putting together a 44 run partnership to lift their team from 24/3 in 4.5 overs to 68/3 in 13 overs. Christian was bowled by Rowan Richards for a 24-ball 21 while attempting a wild slog towards leg side. By the time Hopes hold out at long off for a 44-ball 37, Brisbane required 40 runs from 22 balls.

Despite removing the key wicket of Chris Lynn, David Wiese conceded 15 runs in the 18th over to bring it down to 20 off the last 12 balls. With 17 needed of 8 deliveries and 3 wickets in hand, Gale, Brisbane’s hero with the ball, hit a huge six of Morkel to make it 10 of the last over.

De Lange, who had figures of 3-0-10-2, conceded only 5 runs of the last over to restrict Brisbane to 119 in 20 overs to win the game by 4 runs for Titans.