Day 4 of 5
HollywoodBet Dolphins 295
Multiply Titans 53 and 92/4
JOHANNESBURG - The Dolphins put themselves on the brink of a stunning victory in the Four-day series, thanks to outstanding work from their spinners at Kingsmead on Sunday.
Seventeen wickets fell on the penultimate day of the five-day final in Durban, but the hosts won’t give a hoot about the three they lost quite quickly in the morning.
That allowed them to get stuck into the Titans’s flimsy batting order quickly, with Dolphins skipper Marques Ackerman smartly deciding to open the bowling with off-spinner Prenelan Subrayen. It was a move that paid early dividends with Subrayen dismissing Yaseen Valli and Neil Brand within the first 10 overs.
The Titans were very much their own enemy on a surface that was slow and where the bounce kept disconcerting low, but the visiting batting unit, was far too tentative in their approach against the spinners.
Boundaries don’t need to be hit every over, but there is a skill in turning over the strike and knocking around singles that the Titans batsmen never employed. Instead they allowed the Dolphins’ spinners - with Senuran Muthusamy providing Subrayen with good support - to dominate.
Ackerman could place fielders where ever he liked, but in the main, he was reliant on the accuracy of the two spinners, and the pair played their part perfectly.
Having picked up three wickets before lunch, they got the vital breakthrough shortly after the interval, when newly installed Proteas Test skipper, Dean Elgar, in trying to raise the intensity of the Titans batting, lofted Subryan to Sarel Erwee who took a good catch tumbling forward at mid-on
The rest of the batting order, folded - including a dreadful run out of Dayyan Galiem before he’d faced a ball - with the visitors dismissed for 53, the second lowest total in the four-day competition in the franchise era.
Subrayen finished with 6/24, a career-best effort, while Muthusamy claimed 3/12.
Ackerman duly asked the TItans to follow-on and while they showed better intensity at the crease in the second innings, the pitch was by late afternoon playing serious tricks.
Elgar succumbed to a delivery from Subrayen that went underneath his bat and bowled him for 11.
Take a bow Mangaliso Mosehle!
— stuart hess (@shockerhess) March 28, 2021
A 56-run second wicket stand between Valli and Theunis de Bruyn, saw both batsmen show aggression. In fact the Dolphins were starting to look tired late into the day when wicket-keeper Mangaliso Mosehle produced two magical stumpings, to re-energise the hosts. The first involved a very good take and quick hands to get dismiss De Bruyn off left-arm spinner Muthusamy for 38.
The second to get rid Valli, was one of the best bits of wicketkeeping of the season - the ball kept low, but Mosehle again showed excellent powers of concentration allied to swift hands to remove the bails with Valli gone for 37.
Muthusamy dismissed Sibonelo Makhanya with one the bounced and spun, clipping the outside edge with Keegan Petersen taking a simple catch at slip.
It left the Dolphins needing just six wicket on the final day, to lift what would be a much deserved title.