Ruthless Dolphins snare bonus point win over Knights:
Durban – The Hollywoodbets Dolphins got their Momentum One Day Cup campaign off to the best possible start with a bonus point 94 run win over the VKB Knights at Hollywoodbets Kingsmead Stadium on Saturday.
On a tough wicket, Keshav Maharaj decided to bat first and the Dolphins batsmen couldn’t quite assert themselves as scoring remained difficult for the most part of their innings.
Sarel Erwee fell early for a duck which set the Dolphins back, however a measured partnership from Grant Roelofsen and Vaughn van Jaarsveld helped the home side regain some stability.
Roelofsen looked at relative ease as he made 21 before he lofted one to mid-on where Knights captain Pite van Biljoen took a smart diving catch.
Van Jaarsveld understood the conditions and played patiently for his thirty off 44 balls. He and Marques Ackerman put together a partnership of 58 for the third wicket off thirteen overs.
Ackerman put together a solid forty before he was trapped in front by Tshepo Ntuli, and Van Jaarsveld followed him back to the change room three runs later, run out.
Khaya Zondo and Rob Frylinck were dismissed for single figure scores while Sibz Makhanya managed 18 on the other end. At the loss of those three the Dolphins were 122 for seven in the 32nd over and in danger of not batting their overs.
Captain Maharaj and Prenelan Subrayen then combined to save the innings for the Dolphins as they put together 77 for the eighth wicket.
Maharaj scored 43 crucial runs off 73 balls but Subrayen was just as important as he made 46 not out off 52 balls to help the Dolphins to 209 for nine in their 50 overs.
The Dolphins didn’t give the Knights a sniff at all with the ball as Kerwin Mungroo bagged the wicket of Patrick Kruger for one in the second over.
Imran Tahir spun his web and snapped up two wickets in two balls in his first over. He ended with figures of four for 33 in ten overs while Mungroo bagged his best List-A figures of three for 28.
He picked up the crucial wicket of Knights captain Pite van Biljoen for 26 to a neat diving catch by Grant Roelofsen behind the wicket.
Maharaj bagged two wickets himself and picked up the player of the match award for his efforts.
Talking after the game he was concerned that they might have been a few runs short but was full of praise for bowling unit and how they stuck to their plans.
“Credit must go to the bowlers for winning us that game,” Maharaj said. “We thought that 180 might have been par but I thought we could have been thirty runs shy.
“But then to have Kerwie (Mungroo) and Robbie (Frylinck) bowl like that up front makes it a lot easier.
“Then we know the class of Imran Tahir and he just proved that he keeps on getting better as he grows older.”
The highlight of the Dolphins innings was the 77 runs stand between Maharaj and Subrayen and the captain knew how important it was for them to bat time.
“We had to bat our fifty overs and that’s all Subs and I spoke about. We needed to bat deep to maximise the back end and when Subs started striking it well it made it easier for me to get myself in.
“Credit must go to Subs and how he batted because his innings was crucial in giving us momentum going into our bowling innings,” he added.
The Hollywoodbets Dolphins will now travel to take on the Momentum Multiply Titans in their second Momentum One Day Cup match at SuperSport Park Centurion next Friday.
SUMMARY OF THE SCORE – Hollywoodbets Dolphins v VKB Knights
Dolphins 209/9 (P Subrayen 46* K Maharaj 43)
Knights 115 all out (I Tahir 4/33 K Mungroo 3/28 K Maharaj 2/19)
Dolphins won by 94 runs (with bonus point)
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The post Ruthless Dolphins snare bonus point win over Knights appeared first on Hollywoodbets Dolphins.
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