The KZN Dolphins will take on the Free State Knights in Bloemfontein on Wednesday hoping to make it back-to-back wins in the T20 Challenge.
The Dolphins produced a strong all-round display to beat Western Province by four wickets at Kingsmead on Sunday.
It was their first win of the campaign after four defeats, and they remain rooted to the bottom of the eight-team log.
The Knights, who have two wins from their five matches, will be another tough assignment for the Dolphins.
“We have to make sure that we have got plans in place to negate their power players,” said Dolphins coach Quinton Friend. “As long as we are doing our homework well and looking after our space then we will be fine.
“There were a lot of positives from Sunday’s game against Western Province and we will want to make sure we implement those again on Wednesday.
“It was our first win on Sunday and it’s crucial that we got that win, but now we have to build on that.
“I think we bowled really well at the death. They only managed to score 32 runs off the last five overs which meant we were able to pull the total back significantly.
“From a batting perspective we had two good partnerships and one player who got 70 odd.
“We always want someone to get 75-plus and Marques [Ackerman] managed that for us. Then other guys can bat around him and build those partnerships.
“Hopefully there are opportunities for other guys to do that against the Knights on Wednesday.”
Despite their tough start to the season, Friend said: “The team are still in good spirits, and I am still happy with what is happening in and around the Dolphins space.
“There is a nice youthful influence coming through and we just need to make sure that they are ready to contribute when called on.
“Hopefully we can head to Bloem and get ourselves another win going into the final match against Boland next weekend.”
Dolphins squad for Knights match: Brad Porteous, Prenelan Subrayen, Banele Cele, Hanu Viljoen, Bryce Parsons, Andile Simelane, Slade van Staden, Tshepang Dithole, Ottniel Baartman, Daryn Dupavillon, Jason Smith, Okuhle Cele, Marques Ackerman.
Unavailable due to injury: Eathan Bosch, Khaya Zondo, Tristan Luus.
Photo: Darren Stewart/Gallo Images
