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'Hurricane' clash as Dolphins, Titans search for win

Cape Town - Titans coach Mark Boucher is hoping his side can secure the win he feels they deserve in the remaining two rounds of the Sunfoil Series before the four-day season breaks in the coming weeks.

The log leaders travel to the Dolphins over the weekend ahead of their round four encounter starting at the City Oval in Pietermaritzburg on Monday.

This on the back of a draw against the Warriors in the previous round, a match they could have won had it not been for the weather wiping out the final session of the game.

"We are known for starting a season fairly badly, so in that respect I think we’ve had a good start," Boucher said. "We've had the better end of every draw that we've played.

"We've been put under pressure a couple of times, but we've come through that nicely. It would have been nice to have got a full game in against the Warriors, which was disappointing because we needed three wickets to win, but you can't control the weather.

"So I think in every game we've given ourselves a chance, sometimes conditions don't allow it, but overall, I think I'm pretty satisfied with the way things have gone."

With no team yet to win a game in 2017/18, Boucher is hopeful of victory in either KwaZulu-Natal or the match after that against the Highveld Lions in Johannesburg.

"We're on top of the log by one or two points and if we can get a good win under our belts in the next few games, hopefully it will allow us to start putting pressure on the rest of the competition," he said.

Looking ahead to the challenge expected to come from the Dolphins, Boucher added: "If the weather plays its part, then Pietermaritzburg is usually a wicket that produces a result.

"We had a fantastic game against them the last time we were there and I foresee another close one against them."

Dolphins coach Grant Morgan, meanwhile, is predicting a hurricane of an encounter against the Titans.

"We're expecting another hurricane, we know we just had one here in Durban, so we can expect another cricketing one there," he said.

Morgan admitted that playing Monday's opponents was always tough.

"They have a massive side and they have a coach in Mark Boucher who I have a lot of respect for as a person," he adds. "He's achieved so much in the game and he's really got the Titans going.

"He basically coaches three sides because they change so much and every one of them is firing. They lose one player and another young guy comes in there and suddenly he does well, so they're just such a good side."

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