Dolphins suffer venomous loss to Cobras

After a thrilling day of CSA T20 Challenge action at Sahara Stadium Kingsmead in Durban, the Hollywoodbets Dolphins suffered a disappointing seven wicket loss to the BuildNat Cape Cobras to leave them in a scrap for knock-out qualification as the tournament reaches the closing stages.

Having won the toss and batted first, Kevin Pietersen (79 off 51 balls), Morné van Wyk (44 off 36 balls) and Khaya Zondo (40* off 28 balls) helped the Dolphins to 178/5 however a poor bowling display by the hosts and a powerful chase by the visitors saw the Cobras through to victory with eight balls to spare.

Having won the toss and batted first, Van Wyk and Pietersen combined in a 63-run second wicket partnership before Pietersen and Zondo put on 89 for the fourth wicket to post an imposing target.

Cobras opening batsman Richard Levi (54 off 31 balls; 8×4, 1×6) however gave his team the perfect start as he saw the Western Cape side to 84/2 at the halfway stage of their innings, one run and one wicket stronger than the Dolphins were at the same stage in their innings.

Despite boasting the likes of Proteas spinners Keshav Maharaj and Imran Tahir, the boundaries continued to flow freely off Dane Vilas and Kieron Pollard’s bat to refuse the hosts the opportunity to build any pressure.

In the end it was Pollard who struck the winning runs to take the Cobras across the line with eight balls to spare, setting a new record for the highest successful chase in a domestic T20 match at Sahara Stadium Kingsmead in the process.

The day’s opening clash between the bizhub Highveld Lions and the Warriors saw the men from Johannesburg narrowly fend off the Eastern cape outfit to claim a five run win.

Sunday’s results sees the Lions (16 points) leapfrog the Dolphins (15 points) into third place on the log, someway off the table topping Multiply Titans (24 points) and the Warriors (23 points) while the Cobras remain in fifth place (8 points) and the Knights (5 points) are in sixth.

The Hollywoodbets Dolphins now look to their crucial clash against the Warriors in East London on Wednesday before their final round robin match against the VKB Knights takes place in Durban on Sunday 11 December.