Titans crush Lions to claim 4-Day Series title as Bloem washout denies Warriors

The rain in Mangaung may have done them a massive favour, but there is no disputing that the Titans were the deserving Four-Day Series champions.

The Titans, who were third at the start of the final round on Friday, needed to beat the table-topping Lions, which they did by seven wickets on Monday afternoon to keep their hopes alive.

The Warriors were second going into the final round of fixtures and a win over the Knights would have given them the title.

Instead, the weather in Bloemfontein came to save the hosts, who were 82/8 after the Warriors declared their first innings on 166/3.

The entire third day was lost to rain in the Free State ruining the Warriors' chances while the Titans, through an excellent 143 from senior player Theunis de Bruyn, ensured they batted themselves into a winning position.

After losing their first game to the Warriors and drawing their second match against the Dolphins, the Titans won four of their next five games to usurp a Lions side that started the tournament like a house on fire, but fizzled out badly. 

The Titans had bowled out the Lions for 270 on the back of a concerted bowling collective where Aya Gqamane (3/45) was backed up by Simon Harmer (3/84), Lizaad Williams (2/42) and Corbin Bosch (1/66).

The Lions batting effort across both innings was buttressed by Mitchell van Buuren (103* and 107), but with the top-order getting starts but not converting in the first dig, Sisanda Magala' 61 helped the Lions to the sub-par total.

The Lions' iffy batting display was put into perspective by De Bruyn's attacking ton that was abetted by captain Neil Brand's 81 and Bosch's 57.

Significantly, the Titans middle-order chipped in with contributions that ensured the Lions were going to have to fight hard