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20 overs Titans 172 for 4 (Rudolph 63, Behardien 48*) v Auckland
Azhar Mahmood broke the opening stand with an accurate yorker © AFP
Jacques Rudolph and Henry Davids again provided Titans a powerful start and Farhaan Behardien muscled an unbeaten 48 towards the end of the innings to leave Auckland Aces facing the biggest target of their Champions League T20 2012 campaign.
Titans seemed to have squandered the platform provided by Rudolph and Davids, who lashed 74 at nearly nine an over, as the boundaries vanished in the middle of the innings but Behardien thumped 21 from Kyle Mills' 19th over to lift Titans to an above-par score. Mills who has had three outstanding matches so far - his figures are 2-6, 0-22 and 1-23 - had his worst outing of the tournament, unable to land his yorkers to finish with 1 for 42.
The Titans openers easily picked the slower balls attempted by the Auckland seamers to find the boundary in eight of the first ten overs. Davids again showed off his power-hitting, while Rudolph once more showed he can thrive in T20s, mixing a series of off-drives with some reverse-sweeps. Azhar Mahmood, Auckland's star in their previous two matches, broke the stand by dismissing Davids, after which Titans' innings lost momentum.
Martin van Jaarsveld pottered at less than a run-a-ball, Rudolph hit only three boundaries in nearly 12 overs after the Powerplay and started tiring towards the end of his innings, and Auckland were suddenly looking at a target around 155. That changed with Behardien's onslaught against Mills, which undid the good work at the end by Michael Bates and Mahmood, both of whom regularly found the blockhole.
Auckland's top order has prospered so far in this tournament, but this is the stiffest test they have faced yet in the CLT20.
Azhar Mahmood broke the opening stand with an accurate yorker © AFP
Jacques Rudolph and Henry Davids again provided Titans a powerful start and Farhaan Behardien muscled an unbeaten 48 towards the end of the innings to leave Auckland Aces facing the biggest target of their Champions League T20 2012 campaign.
Titans seemed to have squandered the platform provided by Rudolph and Davids, who lashed 74 at nearly nine an over, as the boundaries vanished in the middle of the innings but Behardien thumped 21 from Kyle Mills' 19th over to lift Titans to an above-par score. Mills who has had three outstanding matches so far - his figures are 2-6, 0-22 and 1-23 - had his worst outing of the tournament, unable to land his yorkers to finish with 1 for 42.
The Titans openers easily picked the slower balls attempted by the Auckland seamers to find the boundary in eight of the first ten overs. Davids again showed off his power-hitting, while Rudolph once more showed he can thrive in T20s, mixing a series of off-drives with some reverse-sweeps. Azhar Mahmood, Auckland's star in their previous two matches, broke the stand by dismissing Davids, after which Titans' innings lost momentum.
Martin van Jaarsveld pottered at less than a run-a-ball, Rudolph hit only three boundaries in nearly 12 overs after the Powerplay and started tiring towards the end of his innings, and Auckland were suddenly looking at a target around 155. That changed with Behardien's onslaught against Mills, which undid the good work at the end by Michael Bates and Mahmood, both of whom regularly found the blockhole.
Auckland's top order has prospered so far in this tournament, but this is the stiffest test they have faced yet in the CLT20.