After a promising start to their chase, the Dolphins fell 54 runs short in their Group A match against CSK in Bangalore on Monday.
The Dolphins conceded 242 runs in the field, but made their intent clear by taking 20 runs off the first over of their chase. Cameron Delport, who got the Dolphins’ pursuit of 243 off to a flier, said that his side would grow from their experience.
‘It gives us massive confidence,’ Delport told clt20.com. ‘Today we played against Chennai Super Kings, who had a lot of Indian national stars and other reputed international cricketers. We know that if we can play well against them – either beat them or even just compete against them – it will help us mature as players. If we can handle these guys, we can definitely handle international cricket.
‘We knew that the wicket was really good and we wanted to get off to a really good start,’ Delport said. ‘Our game plan was to take the attack to them and look for a couple of early boundaries and put them on the back foot right from the beginning.
‘We knew that their score was above average and our only chance of getting close was to put pressure on them. If we got boundaries off the first three balls of an over, the bowler would panic and it would be easier for us. We had a chat after the first innings and we said that if we get off to a good start, we had a good chance because we bat all the way down to No. 11. We did get that start but unfortunately the lower-middle order just collapsed there.’
Dolphins’ Innings:
Morne van Wyk attacked Ravi Ashwin, who bowled the second over, finding the fence a number of times before being the victim of a poor lbw decision.Cameron Delport continued the charge from the other end, until he was undone by a slower ball. He departed for 34 off just nine deliveries, leaving the Dolphins on 56-2 after three overs. The batsmen kept going, reaching 85-2 after six overs, the highest powerplay score in the history of the CLT20.
Fans in Durban would have been forgiven for thinking that the chase was on, but in reality, 243 was always a long way off. Wickets fell at regular intervals throughout the middle overs as the new batsmen had to swing from the hip in order to try and keep in touch with the required rate.
The challenge eventually ended as the Dolphins were dismissed off the final delivery of the match for 188. The scoreboard reflects a heavy defeat, but at least the Dolphins showed real spirit in the way they went about the chase.
CSK Innings:
After winning the toss and deciding to bowl, very little went according to plan for Van Wyk. The Indian franchise made the most of a flat wicket and the short boundaries to set an imposing target of 243.
In a surprise move Keshav Maharaj opened the bowling. It worked almost immediately as he dismissed the dangerous Dwayne Smith with his fifth ball. The rest of the powerplay went perfectly for the batsmen, as the ball found the middle of the blade and repeatedly flew into the stands. At the end of the fielding restrictions CSK had already score 70 runs.
The part-time off-spin of Kaya Zondo answered the captain’s prayers by getting rid of Brendon McCullum for an explosive 49. Despite a great over from Zondo, the Dolphins were still looking down the barrel with the scoreboard reading 103-2 after nine overs.
The IPL team made the most of their start as they continued to attack throughout the middle overs. Suresh Raina scored 90 off 43 balls, while Faf du Plessis proved the perfect foil with 30 off 19 deliveries. Ravindra Jadeja then finished the innings off with an unbeaten 40 off 14 balls to help CSK reach 242-6.
Photo: Ryan Wilkisky/Backpagepix
