The Titans spin triumvirate of Paul Harris, Imran Tahir and Martin van Jaarsveld took five wickets between them to have defending champions and log leaders, the Diamond Eagles, in trouble at stumps on the second day of their Supersport Series match at Willowmoore Park on Friday.

At close of play, the Eagles had scored 140 for five and still trailed the home side by 283.

The Titans resumed play on 293 for six, with Farhaan Behardien not out on 84 – his highest first class score. Backed by Harris, he went on to score his maiden century. It was slow going – he needed 80 deliveries on Friday morning to score the runs needed, but he hit Con de Lange for a massive six over long-off to reach the milestone. When the Titans declared on 423 for nine an hour after lunch, Behardien was undefeated on 150. He had been at the crease for five hours, and faced 272 balls.

Thandi Tshabalala was involved in the last three dismissals, with Harris leg before wicket for 22, Imran Tahir bowled for nine and Basheer Walters caught Tshabalala off De Lange for 18. Walters made his presence felt in the 18 minutes he spent at the crease with a boundary and two sixes.

The Eagles set about the task of running down the Titans total with a will but lost too many wickets. Dean Elgar and Loods Bosman put on 72 for the first wicket before Bosman was caught by Behardien off Harris for 27. Elgar registered his fourth first class half century off 119 balls, but was out soon after for 57, stumped by Heino Kuhn off Van Jaarsveld.

Elgar and Rilee Rossouw shared a second wicket stand of 51, but Elgar’s departure saw the Eagles collapse, with three wickets falling in the space of four overs for the addition of just 12 runs. Former national player Boeta Dippenaar was caught by Kuhn off Imran Tahir four, Morne van Wyk was caught by Van Jaarsveld off Harris for two and CJ de Villiers, sent in as night watchman, was bowled by Tahir without scoring.

Rossouw and Ryan Bailey batted out the remaining overs without too much difficulty, but the Eagles have an uphill task on Saturday morning to stay in the match.