KINGSMEAD will host the encounter between the Dolphins and the North West Dragons today for the fifth round of the Cricket SA T20 challenge.
For this round, this is one of the highly anticipated fixtures seeing the impressive form that the two teams have displayed in this campaign.
The Dragons have an in-form batter in the left-handed Rubin Hermann, the only batter with a century in this season’s edition.
Hermann blasted a 54-ball 102, a knock that saw the batter smash 11 boundaries and three sixes to lead the Dragons to a bonus-point 125-runs victory over the Tuskers two days ago.
Equally, the Dolphins look even stronger given that their wicket-keeper-batter, Grant Roelofsen, has finally found his groove in this campaign. The 27-year-old returned to form this past Friday with an unbeaten 71 off 45 balls, leading the Dolphins to a nine-wicket victory at Boland Park against the Rocks.
The Dolphins have all the bases covered, seeing that the off-spin of Prenelan Subrayen has consistently done the damage this season as the 30-year-old has grabbed a four-for against Western Province this season and a crucial 2-19 in their victory against the Rocks.
On the bowling front, the Dragons will lean on Senuran Muthusamy’s left-arm orthodox today, seeing that the all-rounder will be making a return to Kingsmead after playing for the Dolphins for many years before completing a move to the Highveld a few seasons back.
Muthusamy has had a decent campaign thus far. The 30-year-old is fresh from a destructive 3-19 in the Dragon’s 125-run victory over the Tuskers and will be bringing all that form to today’s clash.
The Dolphins are placed fourth on the table with two victories in four matches, while the Dragons will be looking to add a second victory to their campaign.
Down the coast, in the Eastern Cape, in Gqeberha, the Warriors will be returning to action today as they take on a wounded Rocks side that is yet to register a victory in the competition after three fixtures.
On the other hand, the Warriors are unbeaten having beaten the Tuskers, the Dolphins and the Titans. And given that the Warriors might have Proteas player Anrich Nortje available for selection, they look an even stronger unit.
In Johannesburg, the Lions will be looking to end what has been a busy week on a positive note.
This week, the Lions have played away against the Dolphins and lost before going back home to take on an even stronger opposition in the form of their Jukskei rivals, the Titans. However, the Bjorn Fortuin-led Lions managed to win by a thriller by one run at the Wanderers this past Friday.
Today, they take on captain Kyle Verreynne’s Western Province. The Capetonians are unbeaten this season, on and off the field.
On the field, Province have beaten the Dolphins, Tuskers and the Dragons. Off the field, Province have been the people’s team as they have created a buzz on social media and earned the trend-setters-tag with a unique crowd attraction approach of donning trendy and fashionable outfits on game days.
However, today’s clash will be won or lost on the field as two strong teams lock horns at the Bullring.
*All games start at 2pm SAST.