The Dolphins and the Knights ended their Sunfoil Series match in a predictable draw on Sunday, with the teams shaking hands midway through the second session at Kingsmead.
The Dolphins had made their way to 97 for two in their second innings, for an overall lead of 232 in the match. The first day was completely lost to rain and that factor was to prove to be decisive, as there simply wasn’t enough time in the match for a result to be manufactured.
The Knights had snuffed out any chance of a result on the third day, when Pite van Biljon’s century stopped the Dolphins from entertaining any thoughts of enforcing the follow-on. Van Biljon (105) fell early on the final morning, caught in the deep off Senuran Muthusamy, who cleaned up the tail to good effect.
Muthusamy ended with figures of four for 64, thought Robbie Frylinck’s three for 57 in 22 overs was perhaps more impressive for the home side. The burly all-rounder, who turned 33 this past week, was the only player to play all 30 of the Dolphins’ matches last season. He looks likely to repeat the dose this term, with the KZN outfit missing several strike bowlers.
Lwandiswa Zuma and Daryn Dupavillon are both exciting but injury prone quicks who would add much needed zip to an accurate, but not imposing attack, while Muthusamy’s left-arm spin is developing, but hardly destructive.
On the run-front, Vaughn van Jaarsveld helped himself to a fourth half-century in as many visits to the crease, but he must be increasingly keen to convert these starts into a big one. On Sunday, his 56 not out looked resolute enough, but was nipped in the bud by the gentlemen’s agreement to abandon a match that was going nowhere.
The home side won the battle for bonus points, with 10.52 giving them a total of 16.52 for the match. The Knights still lead the Dolphins by a tenth of the point on the Sunfoil Series table, after collecting 12.82 points from their visit to the sea.
The Dolphins head up the N3 this week, to host the Lions in Maritzburg from Friday.