CLT20: Titans off to winning start

Centurion (South Africa) : South African team Titans convincingly beat Australia’s Perth Scorchers by 39 runs in the opening match of the Champions League Twenty20 here Saturday.

A first-wicket partnership of 109 runs between Jacques Rudolph and Henry Davids propelled the Titans to 163 for four.

Perth’s top order failed to fire and they could only manage 124 for seven.

Titans, who were put into bat, got off to a flyer. Rudolph (83 not out) and Davids (54) piled on the pressure with some aggressive play.

Perth bowlers looked devoid of ideas and struggled to contain the two openers. The South African team in no time reached the 100-run mark.

However, Davids wicket in the 12th over stemmed the flow of runs as the innings slowed down. Australian spinner Brad Hogg bowled impressively, giving away 26 runs in his four overs but failed to take a wicket.

Tight bowling towards the end by the Perth bowlers meant that the Titans could only manage 58 runs off the last eight overs.

In reply, the Scorchers found themselves in all sorts of problem after being reduced 17 for two in the third over.

Shaun Marsh (7), who has been a revelation in the Indian Premier League, failed to fire while former South African Herchelle Gibbs (19) too didn’t impress.

Economical bowling and superb fielding put the Titans in the front seat very early on the innings.

Perth lost wickets at regular intervals and never looked like getting close to the Titans score. Some late fireworks by Mitchell Marsh (52 not out) provided some entertainment for the Australian team.

Medium pacer Cornelius de Villiers was the pick of the bowlers for the Titans taking three wickets.