Now punch-drunk Dolphins face Knights

Patrick Compton

THE Dolphins face a test of character this week after falling off the top of the Sunfoil Series table following a disappointing batting performance against the Titans, who thrashed them by an innings and 38 runs inside three days at Centurion at the weekend.

The new leaders, the Knights, enjoyed the better of a high-scoring draw against the Lions in Kimberley yesterday, and they will arrive in Durban in good fettle for Thursday’s match, not least because their Dolphins import, David Miller, struck his highest first-class score, a magnificent 177, in Kimberley.

The Dolphins have to sort out their batting problems, with their last three innings being 83, 207 and 187.

Opening batsman Imraan Khan has had a poor start to the season with scores of 0, 0, 4, 13 and 6 in the first three matches.

In general, the Dolphins have been poor with the bat apart from the opening match, in which they compiled 478

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against the Warriors. Their two victories over the Warriors and the Lions were largely achieved on the back of superb performances from Keshav Maharaj and Robert Frylinck, but neither the batting nor the bowling was up to scratch at Centurion, where the home team made 432 in their only innings, thanks to 162 from Aiden Markram on his franchise debut.

Another debutant, paceman Lungi Ngidi, also had a good match, taking 5/39 and 2/48 to put the skids under the visitors’ batsmen for whom only Senuran Muthusamy, in the first innings, and Khaya Zondo, in the second, struck half-centuries.

The final match, between the Cobras and the Warriors, also ended in a high-scoring draw at Newlands.