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CSA T20 Challenge 2022 | Titans vs Rocks | The Final Preview, Predictions, Fantasy XI

After a fascinating league phase and an entertaining day of semi-finals we have reached the big day in the ongoing CSA T20 Challenge. It’s Titans who will go head-to-head against Rocks in the finale at St. George’s Park in Port Elizabeth on February 27, 2022.


These two have met each other once in the league phase where Titans came on top as they won a close encounter by just 3-runs.  


In the first semi-final, Titans crushed Dolphins to win it by 6-wickets with 35-deliveries remaining. Dolphins crawled their way through to 93/8 in the crucial knock-out game. Shamsi was once again magnificent with his spell as it read 4-1-15-3. Dala and Williams were the other two consistent performers with the ball for them. The chase was a walk in the park for the Titans as Dewald Brevis played a calm innings under the heat of the semi-final game to take his team to the finale.


Talking about the second semi-final where it was again a bowling day for the Rocks as they bundled out their opponents, Western Province for a score of 118-runs. Abrahams was the star with the ball as he took 4-wickets. Chasing was again an easy one as their skipper Pieter Malan anchored the innings with a gritty fifty.


Abrahams is the leading wicket taker in this tournament with 12-wickets to his name. His teammate, Shaun von Berg is in third place with respect to wickets as he has 11 to his name. On the other hand, Pieter Malan, the skipper of Rocks is the top run getter in the ongoing tournament with 297-runs to his tally and will look to continue his form in the all-important final. For the Titans, Klaasen is in third place with 236-runs. Most of South Africa’s limited overs players will take the field on Sunday and it should be a mouth-watering fixture.    


Both the teams have settled line-ups and will look to dominate in the finals. Titans , the most successful team in the history of the tournament will try to press their opponents down who are playing their first ever final. So who is going to lift the silverware will be known on Sunday.



Match Details


Titans vs Rocks- The Final

Date and Time- February 27, 2022, 4:30 PM IST

Venue: St.George’s Park, Port Elizabeth

Broadcast: Star Sports Select 2, Star Sports Select 2 HD, Disney+Hotstar



Pitch Report


The St.George’s Park pitch is used for all the matches in the tournament and will not play differently in the semis as well. It will be a slow and turning track. As we saw in the semi-finals, it really slows down and batting becomes tougher with the slow bowlers bowling. Spinners will enjoy the track and must bowl the majority of the overs. The average score batting first is around the 140’s. Win the toss and bowl first should be the secret on this track. Weather is all clear for this finale.



Squads


Titans

Theunis de Bruyn (c), Quinton de Kock (wk), Dayyaan Galiem, Heinrich Klaasen, Sibonelo Makhanya, Donavon Ferreira, Ayabulela Gqamane, Dewald Brevis, Aaron Phangiso, Lizaad Williams, Tabraiz Shamsi, Junior Dala, Grant Mokoena, Corbin Bosch, Gihahn Cloete.


Rocks

Pieter Malan (c), Janneman Malan, Cebo Tshiki, Clyde Fortuin (wk), Christiaan Jonker, Ferisco Adams, Michael Copeland, Valintine Kitime, Hardus Viljoen, Shaun von Berg, Ziyaad Abrahams, Siyabonga Mahima, Achille Cloete, Hlomla Hanabe, Zakhele Qwabe, Imran Manack.



Probable Playing XI


Titans

Quinton de Kock (wk), Dewald Brevis, Theunis de Bruyn (c), Heinrich Klaasen, Sibonelo Makhanya, Donavon Ferreira, Ayabulela Gqamane, Junior Dala, Aaron Phangiso, Lizaad Williams, Tabraiz Shamsi.


Rocks

Janneman Malan, Pieter Malan (c), Clyde Fortuin (wk), Michael Copeland, Ferisco Adams, Christiaan Jonker, Shaun von Berg, Imran Manack, Siyabonga Mahima, Ziyaad Abrahams, Valintine Kitime.



CE Fantasy XI

Dewald Brevis, Janneman Malan, Heinrich Klaasen, Ziyaad Abrahams, Shaun von Berg, Tabraiz Shamsi, Theunis de Bruyn, Aaron Phangiso, Clyde Fortuin


Captain- Quinton de Kock

Vice-Captain- Pieter Malan

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PSL Eliminator 2 | David Wiese masterclass sails Lahore to final in a dramatic clash

A deserved contest to get into the final of the Pakistan Super League 2022, the Eliminator turned out to be one of the best matches in the tournament despite its flaws. Lahore Qalandars bundled Islamabad United for 162 runs in 19.4 overs to win the game by 6 runs on Friday, 25 February to book a place in the final alongside Multan Sultans. But, it was not a straightforward game as the scoreline might suggest. The game had everything. Collapse on both sides, exceptional bowling performances, poor fielding, exceptional fielding and then a rain affected final over. Imagine Lahore Qalandars preparing to bowl the final over, trying to defend 8 off the final over, while staring at the unmissable scoreboard which indicated - If the game would stop right now due to rain - Islamabad United would win based on the DLS par score. That’s the kind of set up we are talking about when David Wiese came out to bowl. Equation was far from simple - the game could have stopped any time, and Wiese, with the ball in hand not only needed to pick the last two wickets, but also could not afford to lose any more runs. But more on that later. The batting flop show Lahore Qalandars have batted fairly well for the most part of the tournament. That has largely happened because of the exceptional form of Fakhar Zaman, who has amassed 585 runs in the tournament. Qalandars needed Zaman to fire on the night against batting heavy United - who on their day can possibly chase down 180-190 with ease - considering the batting depth that they possess. However, as it would turn out, it was not the night of Zaman at all. For that matter it was not the night of Qalandars batter at all. At the start of the innings, Qalandars were down by 9/2 in the first three overs, with barely any hope to get back in the match. But they fought back with a masterclass in counterattack from Abdullah Shafique who scored his half century in just 25 balls providing Qalandars a good base. There are nights when things go right, and there are nights when things go wrong. It was the latter one for the home side. They failed to capitalise on the start and were left reeling at 141/7 by the end of 19 overs. 141? Poof…Easy work for Alex Hales and co. In a world of Pakistani & Englishmen, a Namibian steals the show David Wiese’s story on Lahore tonight was a story of two overs. Two last ones to be specific. Not only did he save Qalandars while defending 8 runs, he also hit 3 sixes and 1 boundary in the last over of the first innings to completely change the complexion of the game. From 141/7, Lahore jumped to 168 - a monumental step, just from the optics point of view. Wiese stayed not out at 28 off 8 at a maddening strike rate of 350, which essentially became the difference between the two sides today. Alex Hales, Paul Stirling & the absence of Rashid Khan Barring Shaheen Shah Afridi and Fakhar Zaman, these are the three names that highlight a game between Lahore Qalandars and Islamabad United, you can go and ask any generic PSL fan in the world. But as things stood last week, none among these three were playing in Eliminator if their teams actually made it this far. Stirling had gone for national duties, Hales had left citing bubble fatigue and Rashid Khan went to play for Afghanistan in Bangladesh. However, thanks to a rule tweak in the PSL - agreed by all franchises two among these three returned. Alex Hales and Paul Stirling are a scary combination to face upfront - in any condition - in any league in the world. Stirling is a stand and deliver kind of a guy, a hacker for the lack of a better term, but an elite one at that. And on the other side, Alex Hales - former world number 1 T20I batter in the world - and for some, currently the best T20 opener in the world in current form. And things started off in an ominous tone as well. Shaheen Shah Afridi was hit for 14 in his first over by Stirling and alarm bells had rung for Lahore. However, in his return over (3rd of the chase) a pick up shot from Stirling landed into the palms of a sprinting Haris Rauf in long leg. A lucky escape for Shaheen indeed - who looked like he could go for a few in the night. Stirling's wicket brought in a landslide in the Islamabad team and there were 46/4 inside the first six overs. All this while Alex Hales stood from the other end having played just eight balls till that point. The Rashid Khan gap Lahore Qalandars possibly have the best bowling unit in the tournament. You have the fear factor in Haris Rauf and Shaheen Afridi, you have the newcomer in Zaman Khan, you have a great change up in David Wiese and if all else fails you have the HULK! Well not the Hulk, obviously, but Rashid Khan. Lahore missed the leg spinners services direly in the game as they saw Islamabad go from 46/4 in six to 118/4 by the 13th over. Azam Khan and Alex Hales were on a roll and Lahore looked lost. Qalandars are an exceptional unit Don’t let the viral story of Haris Rauf ‘Slapgate’ fool you. Qalandars are a great team and they know how to bounce off each other. When things looked lost, Qalandars gave a little more in their ground fielding. Stopped boundaries, put in their dives and that’s how they got their breakthrough. Rauf hit the stumps from short third man to find Azam Khan (40 off 28) short and then Kamran Ghulam (the guy Rauf slapped) took a stunning catch at extra cover to dismiss Hales (38 off 29). And guess who the bowler was? Haris Rauf. You just cannot make this up! Barring a Shaheen over in the middle, Qalandars tightened their screws in the last five and got crucial wickets of Asif and Hasan Ali - players who can really hit the ball out of the park. 17 was needed from the last 12 with three wickets in hand. Rauf gave away 9 of them but dismissed Asif Ali in the last ball of the 19th over and then Wiese and his cutters did the rest with rain looming large. A true final Nobody but David Wiese had a claim to today’s man of the match and he was paid due respect by the captain who spoke highly of the Namibian in the post match presentation. The final is set between two of the most loved sides in Multan and Lahore and it is anybody’s guess who will win the seventh edition of the Pakistan Super League. However, if Qalandars can repeat what they did tonight, they will make the Mohammad Rizwan-led side work really hard for the trophy on Sunday, 27 February in the Gaddafi Stadium at Lahore.

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PSL Eliminator 2 | Abdullah Shafique fightback helps Lahore post defendable total

Lahore Qalandars were off to one of their worst starts of the season after being two down for just seven runs in the first three overs. Islamabad United’s Liam Dawson ruined Lahore’s party running riot through the top order dismissing the ever-dependable Fakhar Zaman for just one run. The English off spinner used the skidding new ball to beat Zaman for pace on the cut and then later brought one into Philip Salt castling his stumps. Dawson’s tight lines were complimented by pacer Athar Mahmood’s hard lengths in the powerplay and the duo managed to keep Lahore at check for the larger part of the first six overs. The team would have hoped to capitalise on the same, but the introduction of Abdullah Shafique seemed to be like a breath of fresh air as the right hander counterattacked his way through trouble. A rapid half century in just 25 balls meant that Lahore were back on their feet and were able to score 82 in the first 10 overs, a big improvement from 9/2 at three. Just as Lahore would have hoped to ramp off that fightback, two back to back wickets of Shafique and young Harry Brooks put them under the spot. If it were not for the poor fielding efforts of Islamabad United, Lahore would have been put under the spot much earlier than they actually were. A struggling innings from Samit Patel (21 off 18) and Mohammad Hafeez (28 off 28) ended up further denting but a late onslaught from David Weise made sure that the home team were still afloat in their aspirations to enter the final game. He accumulated 27 runs off Waqas Maqsood’s final over single handedly to shift the momentum of the game. For Islamabad, Dawson was the cream of the crop, picking two wickets for 24 while Mohammad Wasim Jr picked 2 from his three overs bowled.