After four gruelling days of CSA 4-Day Domestic Series cricket, the Hollywoodbets Dolphins defeated the North West Dragons by ten wickets. The Dolphins are now top of the table with one round to go before the final.
It was a challenging match for the Dolphins, who had to bowl the Dragons out twice on a flat wicket in Potchefstroom after the Dragons had scored well over 600 runs in their first innings.
The Dolphins gained momentum towards victory when they dismissed the Dragons for 282 in their first innings and enforced the follow-on.
Assistant coach Quinton Friend expressed his delight for the team, as they persevered to take every wicket in the Dragons' second innings.
Friend, the coach, expressed his pride in the team's victory and the way they played, especially considering the challenge of transitioning from T20 competition. The players who participated in the SA20 demonstrated the team's maturity and confidence.
Despite challenging bowling conditions, the team was able to take 20 wickets, which Friend was proud of.
The bowling unit's commitment and teamwork in the field over the past two days were exceptional.
With five wickets to spare in their second innings, the Dragons trailed the Dolphins by 147 runs on the final day.
Grant Mokoena was close to scoring a century, and the Dolphins needed to take five more wickets to secure a victory.
The home team was determined to put up a fight, and the Dolphins had to work hard for every wicket they took.
Mokoena scored a century and, along with Duane Jansen who scored a half-century, continued to trouble the Dolphins.
After breaking the partnership of Mokoena and Jansen, the Dolphins quickly dismissed the rest of the North West lower order.
The last four wickets fell for 15 runs. Okuhle Cele picked up another four-wicket haul, finishing the match with figures of 8/130.
Despite being asked to bat again, the Dolphins comfortably chased down the eight runs without losing a wicket.
The Dolphins' ten-wicket victory propelled them to the top of the CSA 4-Day Domestic Series standings with one round remaining.
Their final match of the campaign will be against Western Province at Newlands from 21-24 February.