The Imperial Lions chased down 318 against the Titans, courtesy of Reeza Hendricks (157) and Bjorn Fortuin (60), to be crowned One Day Cup Champions.

The Lions have hoisted the silverware after clinching a tense chase of 319 against the Titans in what was a power-packed final to round off the tournament.

Reeza Hendricks was the star of the show with an impeccable 157 and 135, which held the innings together and landed the timely blows when the game started to gradually drift away.

Sibonelo Makhanya, the Titans skipper, chose to bat first at the home ground, SuperSport Park in Centurion. The plan was to put plenty of runs on the board, but it was a rocky start with Gihahn Cloete dismissed cheaply in the third over.

However, Theunis de Bruyn and Neil Brand set out to bounce back with a 69-run stand for the second wicket. The Lions continued to keep their progress in check, as Tladi Bokako returned to send back de Bruyn when he was just beginning to look dangerous.

But the Titans continued to steadily pile on the runs, as Brand added another 73 runs alongside Proteas star Heinrich Klaasen.

The innings took another turn when both batters were dismissed in successive overs, and it was down to Makhanya to rebuild and accelerate. Another two overs later, the hard-hitting Donovan Ferreira fell for 3, and it seemed like 300 wasn’t reachable.

Much to the Titans’ delight, Sibonelo Makhanya and Corbin Bosch produced a match-defining 81-run partnership in 10 overs. The captain reached his half-century first, and Bosch began to open up after Makhanya was out with 7 overs to spare.

Bosch ended up top-scoring for the Titans with a superb 79* from 59, and more importantly, his team breached the 300-run threshold. What was appearing to be a reasonably competitive total, transformed into a much stronger score at halftime.

While they successfully made a substantial total, the bowlers had to back it up against a rather less experienced Lions batting unit, with a few big names absent.

Seamers Corbin Bosch and Aya Gqamane made two key top-order incisions, after sending back openers Josh Richards and rookie Ronan Hermann.

But the early success was cut short rather emphatically, with Reeza and Dominic Hendricks turning it on with a tremendous 131-run stand. The Titans’ grip was loosening rather quickly, but they were right back in it when the reintroduction of Tabraiz Shamsi’s wrist spin brought it all to an end.

Spin from both ends was key for the home side to claw back into the game as well as rip through the middle order. A comfortable position at 212/3 soon became 214/6, and what looked to be a straightforward remaining task suddenly became overwhelming for the Lions.

But then again, the game seesawed once more. Bjorn Fortuin was the much-needed partner at the other end for Reeza Hendricks. Hendricks reached his 15th century in 50-over cricket, and it could not have happened on a more suitable occasion. Meanwhile, Fortuin was rotating strike with ease and feeding the strengths of Hendricks as the chase went into the death overs.

The Lions needed 72 from the final 10, and soon enough, Fortuin was also landing a few lusty blows. Corbin Bosch came back to strike in the antepenultimate over, but it was all but over for the Titans.

Fortuin reached a half-century of his own, and it became his personal-best knock as the Lions clinched a nervous 3-wicket victory.

There were superlative performances from both teams, but the heroics from Hendricks and Fortuin overcame a testing spell from Shamsi as well as the late-order hitting from Makhanya and Bosch. All in all, it was the much-anticipated climactic finish for a tournament that provided exposure for some of the brightest talents in the country.

TITANS 318/6 in 50 overs (Bosch 79*, Makhanya 60 – Yusuf 10-0-59-3)
LIONS 321/7 in 49.1 overs (R Hendricks 157, Fortuin 62* – Shamsi 10-0-79-3)

Photo: Christiaan Kotze/BackpagePix