Warriors on warpath with second T20 win against Dolphins

The Warriors notched a second bonus-point victory in as many matches as they thumped the Dolphins by seven wickets in their CSA T20 Challenge match in Durban on Sunday.

An attacking 42 off 27 balls by opener Jiveshan Pillay was the catalyst to propel the Warriors to the top of the table after two impressive performances.

Pillay's knock included four boundaries and two sixes as he shared a 69-run opening partnership with Matthew Breetzke (31 off 25) to get maters off to a flying start for the Warriors, who reached their target of 122 inside 15 overs.

Breetzke and Pillay needed just 39 balls for their 50-run stand, which included four boundaries and two sixes and came in the seventh over.

The visiting skipper was undone by Ottniel Baartman, who saw a catch off his bowling completed by Okuhle Cele. Breetzke struck three boundaries and a six.

Promoted to No 3, Beyers Swanepoel got his innings off to a flyer with 11 runs off three balls to complement Pillay’s innings as the pair took the side to 85/1 at the end of the ninth over.

Left-handed all-rounder slapped Prenelan Subrayen for a six off the first ball of the 10th over, taking the side past 90. Pillay perished when he was caught on the boundary by Jason Smith as Subrayen struck.

Needing 28 runs to win from 10 overs, Swanpoel’s innings came to an end when he lobbed Jon-Jon Smuts to Subrayen for 17 off eight deliveries. Tristan Stubbs and Jordan Hermann knocked off the remaining runs in 14.1 overs.

Another disciplined bowling performance by the Warriors saw them restrict the Dolphins to a modest 121 for eight after they won the toss and chose to bat.

Siya Simetu and Marco Jansen proved difficult to get away, sharing four wickets for just 29 runs from a combined eight overs.

Jansen returned figures of 2/14 while Simetu claimed 2/15 as the home side limped to their modest total with Smuts top-scoring with a laboured 30 off 35 while hitting just two boundaries.

Stubbs and Simetu removed openers Bryce Parsons (5) and Grant Roelofsen (2) as the hosts slipped to 14/2 in the third over.

A 28-run third wicket partnership between Smuts and Bradley Porteous was disrupted when the latter was caught by Andile Mokgakane for 15, as Simetu claimed his second scalp with the Dolphins on 42/3 in the eighth over.

Khaya Zondo (13) and Smuts, who looked to accelerate their 25-run partnership, fell in consecutive overs as Nealan van Heerden and Patrick Kruger got their names in the wickets column with the Dolphins slipping to 75/5 at the end of the 13th over.

Jansen struck twice in the penultimate over, closing out his four-over spell with the wickets of Smith (27) and Andile Phehlukwayo (9).

Tall left-armer Jansen gave away just three in the 19th over to go with those two wickets, while Swanepoel removed Maharaj for a single in the final over as the visitors leaked just seven runs in their final two overs.