Dolphins guts out draw in PMB:
Defiant second innings centuries from Cody Chetty and Sarel Erwee saved a draw for the Hollywoodbets Dolphins in their Sunfoil Series clash with the Multiply Titans at the Pietermaritzburg Oval on Thursday.
The final day was always going to be difficult for the hosts who battled hard at the end of the third day to be 160/2 at the start of the day’s play, with a deficit of 124 in order to make the Titans bat again to win the match.
The pair of Chetty and Erwee built the ideal platform for their side on the final morning as they took play to just before lunch, executing the game plan that they had set out.
“The plan last night was to just bat overs,” Chetty mentioned after the match.
“We knew that we just had to wear them down, ball by ball, spell by spell.
“If we wore them down we knew that we would be able to cash in and that is what we did at the end there.”
Erwee and Chetty set about digging their side out of a difficult position and the former went past 100 for the second time in this Sunfoil Series campaign as the two whittled down the with some positive stroke play.
Erwee was the first to fall just eight minutes before the lunch break when he was bowled by Alfred Mothoa for a well-played 132. The partnership between the two ended on 148 leaving the difference between the sides at 58 runs when captain Khaya Zondo came to the wicket.
Chetty then went past a well-deserved hundred, his second of the season, as he and Zondo wiped out the deficit before Zondo fell, LBW to Shaun von Berg, for 23.
New signing Dane Vilas then produced his best performance for his new franchise when he looked positive from the first ball taking the game further away from the Titans.
He and Chetty added 99 for the fifth wicket as he ended on 58 not out and Cody Chetty on a career-best 142 not out.
When tea arrived on the final afternoon both captains got together and called the game a draw with the Dolphins 143 runs ahead with six second innings wickets in hand.
The Hollywoodbets Dolphins now travel to the Western Cape to take on the WSB Cape Cobras in Oudsthoorn from Monday, 23 October to Thursday, 27 October.
Another tough day for the Dolphins in PMB:
With a mountain to climb when day three of their Sunfoil Series clash with the Multiply Titans dawned, the Hollywoodbets Dolphins were made to follow on in their second innings at the Pietermaritzburg Oval on Wednesday.
The Dolphins began the day staring at a deficit of over 450 following the Titans’ mammoth 500/6 declared in the their first innings. The home side had lost opener Sarel Erwee late ?on Tuesday evening? with Senuran Muthusamy and Vaugn van Jaarsveld entrusted to give them a strong start on the third morning.
A partnership began to blossom until Van Jaarsveld was bowled by the in-form Malusi Siboto for 24. Cody Chetty was not at the crease for long before he became Alfred Mothoa’s first victim and the Dolphins were on precipice at 76/3.
Captain Khaya Zondo joined the resilient Muthusamy and the pair began rebuilding slowly putting on 78 runs for the fourth wicket. Mothoa then claimed Zondo’s scalp when he chopped on for 36.??Muthusamy passed 50 for the first time this season but was caught down the leg side off a Shaun von Berg delivery for a defiant 64 from 188 deliveries.
Dane Vilas contributed 23 before he became leg-spinner Von Berg’s second victim and Rob Frylinck scored 17 as the Dolphins were bowled out for 216.
Left-arm spinner Tabraiz Shamsi accounted for the final three Dolphins wickets as he and Mothoa both finished with three wickets.
In their follow-on innings the Dolphins equipped themselves better in the face of an onslaught from the men from Centurion.
Despite losing the wicket of Senuran Muthusamy for 11, Sarel Erwee and Vaughn van Jaarsveld took their side to 130 before the latter followed the same mode of dismissal as Muthusamy when he was trapped in front by Shamsi for 39.
Cody Chetty then joined Erwee and the pair steered the battered Dolphins ship to the close of play on 160/2.??Erwee will resume on the final day on 88 with Chetty beginning the fourth morning on 15 still training by 124 runs.
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