The Warriors kicked off their T20 Challenge season with an impressive six-wicket victory over the Dolphins at St George’s Park in Gqeberha on Sunday.
Jean du Plessis’ half-century (69 off 45 balls) on debut for the Warriors sparked a recovered after a shaky start by the home side, and steered them to a convincing win with four balls to spare.
Set a target of 163, the Warriors found themselves in early trouble as they lost the wickets of Jordan Hermann (11) and Andile Mokgakane (7) cheaply, ending the power play on 29-2.
Dolphins captain Prenelan Subrayen used as many as three bowlers in the first power play, and Okuhle Cele (1-35) immediately hit his straps, with Eathan Bosch carrying on from where he left off with the bat, as he got rid of Mokgakane.
Du Plessis and JP King (41) combined for a crucial 75-run partnership off 54 balls, and they got the home side back into the contest.
King sliced a Romashan Pillay delivery, but failed to clear Marques Ackerman at point.
At the other end, Du Plessis continued his impressive knock and kept the Warriors interested deep into the contest.
The 25-year-old scored his first half-ton for the Warriors, and together with Senuran Muthusamy (13 not out), combined for a stand of 43 off 24 balls as they saw the Eastern Cape outfit to their first win of the campaign.
Earlier, the home side won the toss and elected to field first. Openers Bryce Parsons (7) and Khaya Zondo didn’t last long as the visitors reached the score of 49-2 in the first power play.
Zondo looked good in his short stay, scoring 25, but his attempted scoop off CJ King’s bowling was mistimed and caught by Du Plessis, bringing his promising innings to an end.
The Dolphins’ loss of regular wickets prevented them from building any substantial partnerships, while the Warriors continued to apply pressure, restricting them to a run rate between 7.5 and eight to the over.
Jon-Jon Smuts struggled to get his innings going as his attempted shot into the leg-side took a leading edge that flew to the safe hands of JP King, and even though he had to contend with the strong wind, he showed enough composure to hand Renaldo Meyer his first wicket of the campaign.
MATCH RESULTS! 🏏⚡️
The Dafabet Warriors outplay the Hollywoodbets Dolphins to win the match by 6 wickets.
Jean du Plessis put in a solid performance of 69* (45) to ensure the Warriors walk away with their first #T20Challenge win! #WozaNawe #BePartOfIt pic.twitter.com/JVoBOLnP4V
Meyer didn’t have to wait long for his second as the Dolphins continued to dig their already dark hole deeper.
The 30-year-old’s persistence in hitting the hard good length paid off as his first delivery of the 18th over collected the outside edge of Subrayen’s bat on its way to the middle of Du Plessis’ gloves behind the wicket for his second scalp.
The Dolphins lost five wickets for 57 runs until Eathan Bosch rescued the innings for the visitors as he blitzed his way to 45 off 19, including five sixes, and they recovered to post a competitive score of 162-9.
Elsewhere, rain had the final say in the clash between Western Province and Boland that was abandoned without a ball being bowled at Newlands on Sunday.