Junior Dala ended the Cape Cobras’ dream of lifting the One Day Cup on Wednesday with a superb display of fast bowling at Centurion.
With Proteas fast bowler Dale Steyn having bagged the wickets of Janneman Malan and Zubayr Hamza - both for ducks - in the first over of their semifinal clash, it was Dala that finished the job to claim figures of 6/19 as the Titans bowled out the Cobras for just 187 runs.
The hosts' bowling performance laid the foundation for their five-wicket win that will see them host either the Dolphins or the Warriors, who played today, in the tournament’s final on Sunday at 1.30pm.
Dala won the Man of the Match award, despite good competition from veteran teammate Farhaan Behardien, who scored a composed 75 to guide the team home after losing five early wickets.
Of his performance, Dala says: “After coming back from a back injury, I came back in this environment and coach Mark Boucher and the assistant coaches really backed me and told me to forget about what happened against Pakistan [where he played three T20I matches without taking a wicket].
“They told me to just focus on me and they’ve given me that freedom to express myself and bowl quick.”
Dala, though, wants more and adds: “It means a lot to reach the final, but we are still looking for that perfect game of cricket.”
For Cobras captain JP Duminy it was a bitter end to the competition and after getting only 13 runs, while Kyle Verreynne top-scored for the Cobras with 65 - he admits they were about 50 runs short of a competitive total.
Duminy says: “In a semifinal, you still back yourself with runs on the board.
“In the end, we were probably about 50 short.
“We gave it a good crack with those five wickets up front.”