Dwayne Bravo's fifty in vain as Titans lift Ram Slam T20 Challenge 2015
Dwayne Bravo’s first Ram Slam fifty went in vain as Titans comfortably chased down Dolphins’ score in the final of the Ram Slam T20 Challenge 2015 at SuperSport Park in Centurion.
Titans, who won the toss and chose to field, restricted Morne van Wyk’s side to 159 before comfortably chasing the total with more than three overs to spare, to give Albie Morke’s side their fourth domestic T20 title.
After getting off to a solid, if not spectacular start, Dolphins lost their captain (van Wyk) and leading run-scorer in the tournament (Kevin Pietersen) in the space of 15 balls to hand the initiative to the Titans.
And by the end of the 13th over, they were struggling at 77/3 having lost the other opener as well and with two new batsmen at the crease. Thankfully for the Dolphins, those two were established internationals, who managed to get them out of a tight spot.
Although it was David Miller who got the ball rolling with a pull shot for four in the 13th, it was Dwayne Bravo, who would prove to be the dominant partner in the fourth-wicket stand. Some excellent death bowling ensured that the Dolphins never really got away.
The West Indian got to his fifty, which was his 16th in T20s, in just 28 balls, but was lucky to get to the milestone as he was dropped on the boundary by Behardien, who had already dropped Pietersen on 5.
Just two balls later though Miller hit out to Behardien, who finally held onto one and Bravo followed in the final delivery of the innings, having scored 53, with the score at 159/5.
While the total was far from easy, the Titans top-order ensured that they didn’t get stuck in a rut early in the innings. Despite losing Quinton de Kock in the fourth over, Henry Davids and Mangaliso Mosehle kept things steady until the 10th over.
From then onwards, Mosehle started carving the bowling attack to all corners of SuperSport Park. He took a particular liking to Imran Tahir, who he smashed for three sixes in a single over, en route to his fifty.
By the time he got out in the 15th over, Mosehle had already racked up 87 runs off just 39 balls and had brought the required run rate down to under 3. Davids followed him the very next delivery for 35, but the damage had already been done.
It was left to two South African internationals Morkel and Behardien to guide the Titans home, which they managed to do with 3.1 overs to spare to make them the most-successful side in the country’s domestic T20 competition.
Scorecard:
Dolphins:
| Jonathan Vandiar | 26 (30) |
| Morne van Wyk* | 29 (24) |
| Kevin Pietersen | 10 (11) |
| David Miller | 33 (25) |
| Dwayne Bravo | 53 (30) |
| Khaya Zondo | 0* (0) |
| Total (20 overs) | 159/5 |
Bowling:
| Overs | Runs | Wickets | |
| Albie Morkel | 2 | 16 | 0 |
| Chris Morris | 4 | 30 | 0 |
| David Wiese | 3 | 28 | 2 |
| CJ Dala | 4 | 33 | 1 |
| Tabraiz Shamsi | 3 | 25 | 0 |
| GL van Buuren | 1 | 5 | 0 |
| Lungi Ngidi | 1 | 7 | 1 |
| Henry Davids | 2 | 10 | 1 |
Titans:
| Q de Kock | 12 (10) |
| Henry Davids | 35 (38) |
| Mangaliso Mosehle | 87 (39) |
| Farhaan Behardien | 7* (5) |
| Albie Morkel* | 5* (9) |
| Total (16.5 overs) | 161/3 |
Bowling:
| Overs | Runs | Wickets | |
| Keshav Maharaj | 3 | 21 | 0 |
| Kyle Abbott | 3.5 | 39 | 2 |
| Dwayne Bravo | 3 | 22 | 0 |
| Andile Phehlukwayo | 3 | 26 | 1 |
| Imran Tahir | 3 | 33 | 0 |
| BS Makhanya | 1 | 13 | 0 |