A rare treat for a spinner as Maharaj bags a 10-wicket haul against Cobras

KESHAV Maharaj gave an insight into the lot of the spinner in South Africa when he confessed to feeling “relieved” by his first 10-wicket match haul against the Cobras in their key Sunfoil Series match at Newlands last weekend.

“Most of the time I bowl on tracks that give me little or no assistance,” he said after helping the Dolphins to an eightwicket win over the champions in under three days.

“Usually I try to bowl dot balls and build pressure, so it was a relief to bowl on a pitch that gave me some help for a change.”

It’s rare for a spinner to feature on the first morning of a match, but the Newlands pitch was unusually moist early on and the 25-year-old left-arm spinner found the surface sticky with the ball gripping nicely for him.

His first ball, in the 16th over, spun viciously from well outside the off-stump and bowled the left-handed Andrew Puttick through the gate, a dismissal, Maharaj thought, that put demons into the minds of the Cobras’ batsmen.

The home team staggered into lunch on 96/5 before Maharaj finished off the innings, eventually finishing with 6/58 as the Cobras, who had won the toss, were dismissed for 156 in just 43.5 overs.

Maharaj said the pitch still offered turn, albeit less marked, in the Cobras’ second innings as they were dismissed for 253, leaving the Dolphins just 140 to win, a task they comfortably achieved one ball into the final session on Saturday. The 10-wicket return (6/58 and 4/87) enabled Maharaj to become the Dolphins’ leading wicket-taker in the Sunfoil Series this summer with 27 scalps, with only Kagiso Rabada (28) and Dane Paterson (31) above him. He has also passed the 200-wicket mark in first-class cricket.

“Obviously I’m happy, but my aim is to help the Dolphins win another trophy. With the win at the weekend we’re really in the mix now. After winning the Ram Slam last season, we know what it takes to win.”

One of the topsy-turvy game’s defining points was the major collapses that occurred.

The Dolphins lost 8/108 in their first innings, while the Cobras, after finishing the second day 83 runs ahead with seven second-innings wickets in hand, then lost those wickets for 57 runs.

“It’s hard to know why these things happen,” said Maharaj, “but maybe it was significant that most of the wickets fell during the morning when there may have been more moisture in the pitch.”

One of the most important dismissals, however, had nothing to do with a bowler. The Cobras’ second-innings centurion, Stiaan van Zyl, was run out shortly before the end of the second day.

“Stiaan never looked like getting out,” said Maharaj. “His dismissal was a real game-changer for us.”

The Dolphins have moved up to second, 17.24 points behind the log-leading Lions. They will now prepare for their match against the Titans at Centurion on Thursday.