Bad light comes to Dolphins’ rescue
A thrilling final afternoon at Kingsmead saw the Knights skewer seven Dolphins batsmen in just 24 overs to stymie their runchase and salvage a draw in their Four-Day Domestic Series match in Durban yesterday.
Having eventually bowled out the Knights for 331 in their follow-on, with off-spinner Prenelan Subrayen again doing the bulk of the damage (5/147 in a mammoth 55 overs), the Dolphins were left with a target of 152 in 31 overs for a victory and 16 extra points that would have got them right back into the title chase.
Mangaliso Mosehle gave them a bright start with a brisk 30 off 25 balls and the Dolphins reached 49/1 in the seventh over before fast bowler Corne Dry had him caught at point.
The Dolphins, mindful of the bad light that almost always cuts play short at Kingsmead, kept blazing away with captain Marques Ackerman scoring 31 off 21 balls.
But once he was stumped off
Shaun von Berg, it became a battle of survival for the home side, the leg-spinner taking 4/27 in nine tight overs as the Dolphins slumped to 89/7. In the end, the bad light saved them as stumps were called with seven overs remaining.
In East London, the Warriors had to settle for a draw against the Cape Cobras after the final day’s play was washed out, leaving the
Eastern Cape side in third place on the log, nine-and-a-half points behind the Lions.
The Warriors had inserted the Cobras, eventually bowling them out for 333. The hosts replied with 341/9 declared and the Cobras had reached 109/1 in their second knock. The Titans beat the Lions by 10 wickets over three days in Centurion to leapfrong the Warriors and Knights into second place.