Dolphins aim to make rare home final special

A first final at Kingsmead Stadium in 16 years will see the Dolphins host the Warriors in the Momentum One Day Cup grand finale on Friday.

The Dolphins beat the Cape Cobras by 49 runs in their semifinal at Newlands on Wednesday evening. The win booked their spot in the final and coach Grant Morgan is under no illusions about the task ahead.

“I rate the Warriors as probably the best fielding team in the competition,” he said.

“They were in two finals last season and have been in a semifinal this season already so they have proven to be a good side across both white ball campaigns,” said Morgan.

“We will have to play our best game of the season if we are going to get over the line on Friday,” said the coach.

Morgan and his charges were slightly disappointed by the outcome of their semifinal innings after they got off to a brilliant start. He believed 230 was always going to be defendable, however his bowling attack needed to fire.

“Our bowlers knew that they had to be on point and they were. The bowlers have been superb throughout the season, but I still don’t think that we have put that perfect game together yet.

“Our batting has come close to hitting its straps but we have fallen by the wayside at times, which has prevented us from getting that big score,” he added.

The Dolphins top order has been in good form throughout the campaign, with Morné van Wyk, Sarel Erwee and Dane Vilas being among the runs. With Vaughn van Jaarsveld, who missed a few games due to injury, added to the mix the Dolphins top order can be a difficult nut to crack.

Durban has not had a domestic cricket final since the 2001-2002 season when KwaZulu-Natal beat Western Province in the 50-over competition. Morgan is hoping his team can reward the fans this time.