The hosts ended the round-robin phase of the one-day competition top of the table, with the visitors second. They both also had comfortable wins in the two semi-finals that were played earlier this week.

The Titans overcame an early batting collapse – which followed a strong bowling display – to oust the World Sports Betting Cape Cobras by five wickets, while the Dolphins crushed the Warriors in an emphatic display, one of their most clinical of recent seasons.

Veteran batsman Farhaan Behardien, their saviour in midweek thanks to an unbeaten 75, believes victory in the final will go a long way towards easing some of the pain his side suffered earlier this year, which included a woeful 4-Day Domestic Series.

“It’s a massive turnaround for us,” he said. “The four-day campaign didn’t go as planned, and there was a lot of disruption, with a lot of call-ups to the national side, and injuries.

“We used over 30 players in that competition. That is not an excuse, but we didn’t handle that well.”

Meanwhile, Dean Elgar, who has captained the Titans in recent games, says they are happy with their form heading into the tournament decider.

In addition to Behardien’s contribution, Junior Dala and Dale Steyn were lethal with the ball in the semis, bagging six and three wickets respectively.

“We couldn’t have asked for anything more,” he added. “Dale set the tone in the first over and then Junior was outstanding with his return.

“The batting was on the disappointing side, as it has been many times this season, but the two guys (Behardien and Corbin Bosch) batted brilliantly to get us home.

“I think that was the most important thing and now we look forward to Sunday.”

For the Dolphins, they delivered what captain Khaya Zondo termed a ‘dream performance’ in their first play-off game. They bowled out the Warriors for just 119 and then romped home with more than 30 overs to spare.

“It was a dream performance because usually you get put under pressure with bat or with the ball or in the field, but this was just clinical,” he beamed. “It was the perfect performance and I couldn’t have asked for anything more.”

The Dolphins do not have too many good white-ball memories of Centurion from recent seasons. They were particularly woeful when they lost the 20-over final there two seasons back but can take some solace from beating the Titans there earlier in the current season.

“To be honest, it’s going to be a tough a game,” Zondo concluded. “I don’t want to premeditate anything or make too many predictions, but I can tell you it’s not going to be easy at all.

“The Titans are a fantastic unit and have some really good cricketers in their ranks. History tells us it’s going to be tough.”

- Cricket SA