• Dolphins, Warriors wins give them early table lead

    The Dolphins and the Warriors earned good wins over the Cape Cobras and Knights respectively, both opponents being bowled out during their run chase in their One-Day Cup clashes on Friday night.

    Dolphins vs Cape Cobras

    Dolphins 276-7 (K Zondo 93, AL Phehlukwayo 67, MN van Wyk 36, S Muthusamy 30; D Paterson 3-40, GF Linde 2-50)
    Cape Cobras 254 (K Verreynne 52, A Mgijima 26, GF Linde 63, DL Piedt 27, JN Malan 30, Zubayr Hamza 20; Imran Tahir 2-34, M Shezi 2-29, AL Phehlukwayo 4-56, CP Savage 2-58)

    A brilliant 93 from Dolphins captain Khaya Zondo and four wickets for Andile Phehlukwayo saw the Dolphins maintain their perfect record in the One-Day Cup with a 22-run win over the Cape Cobras in Paarl on Friday.

    The visiting Dolphins were inserted by the Cobras, a decision that reaped reward almost immediately with Vaughn van Jaarsveld bowled for five.

    READ ALSO: Dolphins dump Titans at Centurion

    Just 19 runs later and the Dolphins lost the in-form Dane Vilas for five and David Miller for seven. The Dolphins were 43 for three when Khaya Zondo joined Morné van Wyk in the middle. The duo managed to get the innings back on track with a stand worth 28 before Van Wyk fell for 36.

    The captain then took control of the innings with the help of Andile Phehlukwayo. Their stand produced 103 crucial runs before Phehlukwayo was dismissed for 67 off 66 balls, which included six fours and two sixes.

    Senuran Muthusamy then joined his skipper and continued in the same vein that he showed in Pretoria. Muthusamy blasted 30 runs off 22 balls, including two fours and a six. His partnership with Zondo was worth 60 before the left-hander was caught.

    Zondo was the final wicket to fall, with the skipper being dismissed just seven runs short of his century. He was caught for 93 off 115 balls, which included just two fours and two sixes.

    Calvin Savage was not out on 19 off 13 balls as the Dolphins completed their 50 overs with their score on 276 for seven.

    The Dolphins started patiently with the ball and managed to restrict the Cobras openers, as the early scoring rate was well behind the required rate.

    The Malan brothers – Pieter and Janneman – scored 43 before Calvin Savage had the latter caught by Dane Vilas for 30.

    Three wickets fell for the addition of just 45 runs, with Phehlukwayo, Imran Tahir and Savage each picking up a wicket. A 41-run partnership between Kyle Verreynne and Aviwe Mgijima got the run chase back on track before Gijima lost his wicket for 26, bowled by Mthokozisi Shezi.

    READ ALSO: Sensational Verreynne ton sees Cobras home in last-over thriller

    Verrynne went to 50, but fell soon after, bowled by Tahir for 52. George Linde and Dane Piedt batted well to get their side right into the contest with a quickfire partnership of 61 in seven overs. Piedt was dismissed by Shezi in the 48th over for 27, leaving the Cobras on 253 for seven, still needing 24 runs to win off 13 balls.

    Phehlukwayo’s final over was the 49th and it proved to be the last as he picked up three wickets to close out the match.

    He dismissed the dangerous George Linde (63) off the first ball of the over and followed that up with the wicket of Tladi Bokako next ball. The Proteas all-rounder then knocked over Dane Paterson with the final ball of the over to secure a 22-run win for the Dolphins.

    Phehlukwayo finished with figures of four for 56, the best figures for the Dolphins while Tahir, Savage and Shezi each bagged two wickets.

    Scorecard

    Knights vs Warriors

    Warriors 195 (MP Breetzke 39, ACR Birch 38, LC Ngoepe 37, MY Vallie 25; GJ Snyman 4-36, E Leie 2-45, M de Lange 2-13)
    Knights 184 (KD Petersen 88, AGS Gous 26, PE Kruger 26; ACR Birch 3-28, A Nortje 2-36, JT Smuts 2-22)

    Andrew Birch, Anrich Nortje and Jon-Jon Smuts all starred with the ball as the Warriors produced an outstanding display with the ball to oust the Knights by 11 runs in Kimberley on Friday night.

    After a below-par batting display, national hopeful Nortje blew away the top order with two for 36, Smuts (2-22) dealt some key blows to the middle order, and pick-of-the-bowlers Birch (3-28) blew away the tail as the hosts were shot out for 184, chasing a winning target of 195.

    HIGHLIGHTS: Knights vs Cobras (One-Day Cup)

    Keegan Petersen was again the cream of the crop, not just for the Knights, but for both teams, top-scoring with a supreme 88 (144 balls, 6×4) before he was the last man out – run out with five balls to go, trying to salvage something for his team.

    It ended another disappointing game for the Central Franchise, who are now without a win after their first four games of the campaign.

    They would have been smiling at halfway, though, after bundling out the Warriors for just 195 in 45.1 overs of a match reduced to 47 overs per side due to the weather. Jacques Snyman was the main threat for the Knights after bagging a career-best four for 36 with his off-breaks.

    Matthew Breetzke (39), Birch (38) and Lesiba Ngoepe (37) all reached their 30s, but none of them managed to kick on. Marchant de Lange was also outstanding with two for 13.

    READ ALSO: Lions, Knights both desperate for 1-Day win

    The home side then progressed well enough as Petersen dropped anchor, and the likes of Andries Gous (26) and Patrick Kruger (26) offered decent support to take them to 145 for four after 33 overs.

    But after the latter was run out, they collapsed spectacularly to be bowled out in 46.1 overs.

    Scorecard

    Photo: Anesh Debiky/Gameplan Media

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    Simon Lewis