Elgar century indicators Titans victory and return to full health

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South Africa test captain Dean Elgar signaled his return to full fitness from a hijacking injury with a hundred in his third Red Ball innings that summer when the Titans recorded their first win of the season. Elgar, who held the niggle during the T20 domestic competition, was one of four centurios for the Titans, who beat Western Province with one innings and 139 runs.

“The most important thing was that he had the opportunity to spend time on the kink, and he took advantage of it. He’s had a difficult couple of weeks, so his goal was to make sure he beats for a long time, knowing that he, if he does that, the runs will come, “Titans coach Mandla Mashimbyi told ESPNcricinfo.

Elgar and his opening partner Grant Mokoena, who got the highest score at 154, shared an opening score of 231 before Jiveshan Pillay and Ayabulela Gqamane contributed 113 * and 117 *, respectively, to bring the Titans to 647 for 7. Despite the towering total, Mashimbyi indicated that beating at Newlands wasn’t as easy as the scorecard made it appear. “It wasn’t your typical Cape Town wicket. It was a bit slow so the batter really had to hit,” he said. “We found that once the guys got in, things got a little easier.”

The Western Province Batters hardly managed that. There were only two scores over 40 in their first innings when left spinner Simon Harmer forced the replacement with 7 for 76, 452 runs behind. Harmer finished the match with 10 wickets, with Western Province bowling for 313 in their second dig, where Daniel Smith and Kyle Verreynne made half a century.

The win puts the Titans in fourth place and with one lap to go, Mashimbyi is hoping for a second win at the Cape against Boland this week to consolidate his position in the top half. For Elgar, the game will be doubly important as he tries to maximize his competitive batting time ahead of South Africa’s three Test series against India, which begin in mid-December.

“Dean just wants to work on a couple of specifics: things like getting in good positions and watching the ball, and it’s just about emphasizing those points,” said Mashimbyi. “He knows his game well and has been playing for a long time. With a little more time in the middle, he will be ready for the tests.”

For other results:

Department one

  • The Lions maintained their place at the top of the scoreboard with an innings-and-30-run win over Boland at the Wanderers. After throwing Boland for 170, the new ODI call Ryan Rickelton scored 117 as the Lions took a 180-run lead after their first innings. Boland was bowled out for 150 in their second innings, with Duanne Olivier winning 5 for 57. Olivier finished the game with eight wickets and is the competition’s leading bowler with 20 wickets at an average of 12:30 p.m.

  • The Warriors climbed to third place after their 130-run win over North West in Potchefstroom. Edward Moore, Lesiba Ngoepe and Diego Rosier scored half centuries to lead the Warriors to a first inning of 334. North West took the lead, scoring 350, largely thanks to Wesley Marshall’s 94, before a big second inning from the Warriors swung the advantage in their direction. Matthew Breetzkes 152 and Rudi Seconds 103 * allowed them to declare on 342 for 2 and bet North West 349 to win. You were hit for 218.

  • Despite winning, the Warriors failed to overtake the Knights, who are in second place after a draw with the Dolphins in a weather-related match in Durban. The Knights bowled their hosts for 226 and then declared their first innings closed at 397 for 4, with Matthew Kleinveldt contributing 177, but their 171 run lead failed to force a result. The Dolphins’ second innings had hit 174 for 5 by the end of day four.

Department two

  • Sean Whitehead became the fourth South African to take all 10 wickets in an innings as South Western Districts earned a 120-run win over Easterns. Whitehead’s performance came in the fourth innings of the game, with Easterns set a goal of 186 runs to win. You were fired for 65. Whitehead took a total of 15 in the match and is now third in the entire bowling charts. Leus du Plooys 91 and 85 * made him the highest run scorer of the game.

  • Kwa-Zulu-Natal Inland tops Division Two points after a seven-wicket win over Border. Thomas Kabers 103 * helped Border get a 384 post in her first innings, which was exactly the same as KZN Domestic. Tshepang Dithole scored 162 while Kaber took 5 for 109. Luke Schlemmer’s 6 for 31 saw Border sacked for 106 in their second innings, and KZN Inland crossed the line after losing just three wickets.

  • At Polokwane, Limpopo and Northern Cape drew, although the result seemed excruciatingly close. Northern Cape was bet 126 to win the game and finished the game 121 for 7. Captain Aubrey Swanepoel ended up unbeaten at 44. Previously, Swanepoel had won 7 for 56 when Northern Cape defeated Limpopo with 290 and responded with 350, after Rivaldo Moonsamys 101. Limpopo was sacked for 185 in their second inning, giving the Northern Cape the chance to take the win, but they did were unable to complete the game.