Following their dramatic recovery to win their Momentum One Day Cup semi-final, the Hollywoodbets Dolphins feel confident that they can win the domestic 50 over competition outright when they face the Imperial Lions in the title decider in Potchefstroom on Thursday.
The Dolphins have won two of their completed pool games and then returned to Senwes Park to beat the Six Gun Grill Cape Cobras by three wickets in their semi-final on Monday while the Lions had their semi-final rained off on Tuesday and qualify for the final through superior points.
The Lions were the dominant side in group B during the pool phase and stand-in coach for the Dolphins Quinton Friend knows that it is going to be a difficult match against the Johannesburg-based side.
“They are a good side under the guidance of Wandile Gwavu and they are a well-drilled team,” Friend said, who is coaching in the absence of head coach Imraan Khan who has been called up to the Proteas side as assistant coach for the T20 series against Pakistan.
“We are well aware of the Lions and what is coming our way but they have also lost a few players to the Proteas T20 squad in Ryan Rickelton and Bjorn Fortuin.
“In losing two players like that it’s massive in that line-up and replacing them will be really big for them.”
Despite the Dolphins getting over the line in their semi-final and winning their two pool matches, Friend knows that there is a lot of room for improvement amongst their batting line-up.
“I’m still not entirely happy with how we are operating from a batting perspective, our top five and six need to be taking a lot more responsibility.
“We haven’t batted at our best in this competition yet and we have got to the final so it shows you how well our six, seven, eight and nine are getting us over the line.
“We’ve chatted a lot about it and we know the capabilities of our top five and they know that in a final you have to stand up and make a difference,” Friend added.
The match will be close to the pinnacle of the season for the Dolphins, however they want to treat the match as they would any other.
“We are trying not to put too much emphasis on the word final,” Friend stressed. “We didn’t put much focus on the word semi-final either; we just saw it as another cricket match.
“Keeping the pressure off us is important because in the semi-final it seemed like we did worry about it a little when we were 60 for five.
“The encouraging thing is that the guys know what to do when chasing in a play-off match and they understand and know what it is going to take to win a final,” he commented.
Should there be rain in Potchefstroom on Thursday then Friday has been set aside as the reserve day.
