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Fylinck magic sees Dolphins home in run-fest

Centurion – The fastest half century in One Day Cup history from Rob Frylinck off just 17 deliveries saw the Dolphins chase down a mammoth 324 to win by five wickets in their 50-over opener against the Titans at SuperSport Park in Centurion on Friday.

It was a blistering display from Frylinck who came in when the Dolphins still needed 65 runs to win off just under six overs and his clean striking from the outset, after Keshav Maharaj had given the visitors some impetuous, was sublime.

“I have been doing this for a while and most of the time we have come up short so to win the game today for a dear friend of mine, Clint Stoltz, who passed away from cancer this week was incredible.

“He definitely gave me the strength to get us over the line today,” a gracious Frylinck commented.

It was always going to be a difficult task chasing down such an ominous total and keeping wickets in hand was going to be key. The openers SJ Erwee and Morné van Wyk set down a marvellous platform putting on 117 for the first wicket from just over 20 overs.

Both batsmen went past half centuries before Erwee misjudged the length of a Junior Dala delivery and bottom edged it to Heinrich Klaasen behind the stumps for 70 from 83 balls.

Erwee’s partner Van Wyk continued to compile a knock as he too went past the half-century milestone as he and Cody Chetty tried to chip away at the advantage.

Their partnership got to 53 before Van Wyk was out-smarted by the crafty Dean Elgar as he ran past one and was stumped by Klaasen for 61.

Chetty continued on his way although he lost Van Jaarsveld at the other end and when the left-hander fell to Albie Morkel, Chetty was joined by his captain Zondo.

Morkel’s slower deliveries on a track that didn’t quicken up after dark was the undoing of Chetty as he top-edged one around the corner to David Wiese the ball after he went to a patient 50.

Maharaj then entered the fray at six and proceeded to dispatch the Titans bowlers to all parts on his way to 38 off 22 balls. He holed out to Davids at deep-square leg with over ten runs an over needed.

The task was never out of Frylinck's realm and he proved it with some pure ball striking as captain Zondo milked the singles and handed his all-rounder the strike which proved to be the difference at the end of the game.

The Dolphins would have been disappointed with their display with the ball. Their out-of-sorts bowling cost them nearly three extra overs in wides with the shift to white ball cricket proving a little more difficult to adapt to than they would have liked.

Despite the Titans’ large total the Dolphins bowlers might have felt a little hard done by at times with a number of lucky shots falling in gaps or just past the keeper.

Calvin Savage was the pick of the Dolphins bowlers after the seamer picked up 4/60 in his allotment of 10 overs. Mthokozisi Shezi also contributed to the seven wickets that the Titans lost by finishing with 2/78.

The catching from the side from KwaZulu-Natal was good as they snaffled up all of their chances however coach Grant Morgan would not have been happy with the ground fielding with a number of fumbles and miss-fields costing them crucial runs.

The Dolphins return home to take on the Highveld Lions on Friday, February 24 at Kingsmead.

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