Maiden De Zorzi ton helps Titans stretch lead

Cape Town - A maiden career century by Tony de Zorzi set the Titans on their way to yet another One-Day Cup bonus-point win as they trounced the Knights by 95 runs at the Diamond Oval in Kimberley on Friday evening.

The young left-hander struck 103 (128 balls, 9 fours, 1 six) as the visitors amassed 309 for eight, before another rookie, debutant Gregory Mahlokwana, took three for 41 as the hosts were bundled out for 214.

It was the sixth win out of eight games for the reigning champions and helped them stretch their lead at the summit, while the Knights remained winless and on the brink of elimination.

The home side continued their struggles in the Northern Cape, and after winning the toss and bowling, were punished by the Titans' top-order.

Heino Kuhn (45) and De Zorzi put on 85 for the first wicket, before Rivaldo Moonsamy hit 33 and Heinrich Klaasen smashed 73 off just 47 balls (7 fours, 2 sixes) to take their side to 235/2 at one stage.

They were eventually kept restricted to a 310 target - De Zorzi completed his first ever ton, surpassing the 78 he made for Northerns against Namibia he made in 2016/17.

Opener Grant Mokoena top-scored with 62 (77 balls, 7 fours) to give the Knights a good start of 70 with Rudi Second (35).

But once the pair fell, followed by David Miller for a duck and Theunis de Bruyn for 37, the home side folded quickly.

Tabraiz Shamsi continued his good form with two for 39, while David Wiese took two for 47 - the pair providing good support for 23-year-old slow left-armer Mahlokwana - as the Knights were blown away in 40.1 overs.