Titans win toss, bat first in 1-Day Cup final

The Titans won the toss and chose to bat in the 1-Day Cup final against the Lions at SuperSport Park in Centurion on Wednesday.

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The Titans were unchanged from the team that played against Western Province in their rain affected game on Sunday.

The Lions' last league game against the North West Dragons was washed out, but made two changes from the Titans game on 1 April with Shane Dadswell and Ronan Hermann coming in for Louren Steenkamp and Kagiso Rapulana.

The Titans earned the right to host the final by virtue of winning five of their six round-robin games, with their only loss coming against the Lions at the Wanderers last week Friday.

The Titans have been heavily reliant on their batting, with Proteas Heinrich Klaasen (414) and Theunis de Bruyn (378) scoring two big hundreds each for the franchise.

Neil Brand (263), captain Sibonelo Makhanya (239) and Gihahn Cloete (226) have also contributed as and when it was needed by the team.

The Titans have scored 300 three times in the tournament and crossed 450, showcasing their deep batting talent.

The Titans haven't failed to cross 300 in their home games this season and in the two most recent 1-Day Cup finals at home in the 2016/17 and 2018/19 seasons, they scored 425/5 and 356/5 batting first.

They crushed the Warriors and the Dolphins in those respective finals, with Klaasen and De Bruyn contributing in those games.

The Lions have been more dependent on their bowling, with Sisanda Magala's 21 wickets being the best in the tournament while Bjorn Fortuin (10) and Malusi Siboto (7) have been of assistance to the Proteas limited overs pacer.

The Lions' batting has been more of a team effort through the tournament, but they were able to finish second with four wins