Durban – Following two consecutive 4-Day Domestic Series wins, the Hollywoodbets Dolphins welcome the VKB Knights to Hollywoodbets Kingsmead Stadium this week as they look to continue their strong run of results.
The Dolphins pulled off a memorable win in Oudtshoorn against the World Sports Betting Cape Cobras, and then dominated all four days to beat the table-topping Imperial Lions last week to give them their first win at the Pietermaritzburg Oval since 2007.
The Knights have been in good form too and claimed a more than dominant ten-wicket win over the Warriors last week in their match, and the Knights got the better of the Dolphins in the first fixture in Bloemfontein earlier in the season.
It could be argued that the Dolphins are a different side compared to their early-season results with a renewed energy in both the batting line up and amongst the bowlers as they managed to take twenty wickets on a docile wicket in the provincial capital last week.
The Dolphins have made just one change to their squad as the fit-again Sibz Makhanya comes into the squad for Cody Chetty.
Captain of the Dolphins Marques Ackerman knows that the Knights will pose a significant threat to his side but is pleased with the direction the Dolphins are heading.
“The confidence in the camp is high and the boys have trained well after the win in Maritzburg which shows a lot of focus from the squad,” he said, “The Knights are coming off a win but we want to focus on doing the basics well and executing our skills well rather than focusing on the opposition.
“We’ll be hoping to make it three from three going into the break.”
The Dolphins will be excited by the fact that a number of their batsmen are in good form. Sarel Erwee scored a century and a fifty in Pietermaritzburg while Vaughn van Jaarsveld made two fifties.
Along with the side’s leading run scorer in the competition Ackerman and three-time centurion Grant Roelofsen, the Dolphins have a strong top four who are in the runs.
From a bowling perspective, Prenelan Subrayen took eight wickets in the game against the Lions while seamers Daryn Dupavillon and Kerwin Mungaroo were also in the wickets.
These three along with the consistent Senuran Muthusamy give the Dolphins the confidence that they can take twenty wickets.
The Dolphins will take a break from four-day cricket following this week’s clash as the focus shifts to white-ball cricket and the Momentum One Day Cup.
