Maharaj makes merry against Titans to take Dolphins to One-Day Cup final

The Hollywood Bets Dolphins, beneficiaries of sanctions dished out to the Eastern Province Warriors, used that home ground advantage to qualify for the final of the One-Day Cup with a 65-run victory against the Momentum Titans on Wednesday night.

A tournament now scarred by controversy, which should lead to deep introspection at Cricket SA about its development and transformation strategies, saw a play-off match dripping with mediocrity, particularly from the careless Titans batting unit.

Asked to chase 229, a middling target on a typically sluggish Kingsmead pitch, a number of the Titans batters threw their wickets away. 

While Eastern Province Cricket still works out how it will be disputing the sanctions handed down by CSA — for not fielding three black African players in their starting line-up against the Dolphins at the start of the competition — the team who benefited the most will face Boland in the competition’s final in Paarl on Sunday.

Titans captain Neil Brand described his side’s batting as “dumb.” Lhuan-dre Pretorius, Brand, Keegan Petersen, Dewald Brevis, Dayyaan Galiem and Andile Phehlukwayo all donated their wickets to the Dolphins. Technique and, especially, match awareness were both missing from all their efforts. 

Perhaps there was still some justifiable anger about their fate. They had been due to host the playoff until the Dolphins were given four points by CSA because of the Warriors’ indiscretion, but having started in the way they did with the ball, the manner in which they threw away the game, with the bat and earlier with their death bowling, will eat away at them for what remains of this season and far into winter. 

Brand’s decision to bowl after winning the toss was justified, as the Dolphins were reduced to 91/5 halfway through their innings. Phehlukwayo picked up two of those wickets, but it was the damage done by the three spinners Brand, Roelof van der Merwe and Schalk Engelbrecht that proved vital. That trio bowled 28 overs, picking up four wickets, and in the aftermath it seems criminal that only Brand completed his full quota of 10 overs and Brevis’ wrist spin wasn’t used at all.

Meanwhile, 12 overs from Galiem and Junior Dala went for 91 runs. Phehlukwayo finished with 4/28 in his 10 overs.

The Dolphins’ recovery was led by a hard-working 57 from wicketkeeper-batter Hanu Vilhoen, who shared an 86-run sixth wicket partnership with Eathan Bosch who scored 40. Keshav Maharaj, roped into the Dolphins side after the Champions Trophy and the skipper Prenelan Subrayen, shared an unbeaten partnership of 43 off 27 balls, to get the home side to 228/8.

The Titans struggled early, not helped by the unfortunate dismissal of the in-form Rivaldo Moonsamy who was run out, via a deflection off the bowler Bosch. 

Brevis’s 35 off 24 deliveries, which included four sixes, offered the Titans hope, but he was too easily outfoxed by Maharaj, with an outside edge off a wild drive landing comfortably in Jason Smith’s hands at point. Maharaj finished with 3/37 and Subrayen 1/35. 

The Titans’ efforts were summed up in the match’s ending when No 11 Engelbrecht didn’t run his bat into his crease and was run out. 

The Dolphins smiled, the Titans looked even more angry than they were when boarding the flight to Durban.