Sarel Erwee and Marques Ackerman provided a sweet end to a miserable day in Durban when they added an unbroken 140 for the second wicket on a weather-curtailed second day of their CSA Four-Day Series match against the Dafabet Warriors at Kingsmead on Thursday.
The Dolphins finished on 158 for one in 41 overs with Erwee unbeaten on 79 (130 balls, 7x4s, 2x6s) – his highest score of the season – while Ackerman was on 63 (87 balls, 8x4s).
The home team now trail the Warriors (267 all out on Wednesday) by 109 with nine wickets in hand and two days still to go.
Only 33 overs were bowled on a day when rain and bad light dominated proceedings but a small but appreciative crowd was at least able to enjoy some delightful batting from the two left-handers.
Erwee, who passed 7 000 runs in first-class cricket, in particular started slowly but the last 116 runs of their partnership came in 22 overs with both scoring freely before the umpires took the players off for the final time for bad light, although neither batsman was remotely affected by the gloom, so “in” was their eye and so free was their strokeplay.
The end was in stark contrast to the beginning of play which did not start auspiciously.
The start was delayed for 30 minutes because of a couple of damp spots in the outfield and then only four overs could be bowled before bad light intervened.
Another brief period of play was then ended by rain with the Dolphins on 42/1 after barely 11 overs of cricket by mid-afternoon.
Fortunately for the happy few in the ground, they were well rewarded for their patience.
Of the two, Ackerman was the most overtly aggressive, reaching his half-century in 68 balls, compared to Erwee’s 105 balls, but in the latter part of their liaison it was the former Protea who was leading the way.
For most of the day, the hardest-working people at Kingsmead were the groundstaff who worked hard to shift the covers from the square to the boundary and back again.
From the Lions’ point of view, the only wicket to fall was that of Dolphins’ opener Tshepang Dithole, caught behind by wicketkeeper Sinethemba Qeshile off the bowling of Beyers Swanepoel for 11.
Ackerman, who progressed through hooks, pulls, drives and reverse-sweeps, found that his adventurous approach occasionally produced some close calls, with Rudi Second almost claiming a remarkable catch in the slips, but in the end the Warriors’ skipper was only able to palm the flying ball over the metaphorical bar.
HOLLYWOODBETS DOLPHINS: Sarel Erwee (capt), Tshepang Dithole (wk), Bryce Parsons, Daryn Dupavillon, Andile Simelane, Eathan Bosch, Khaya Zondo, Jason Smith, Prenelan Subrayen, Okuhle Cele, Marques Ackerman
DAFABET WARRIORS: Rudi Second (capt), Diego Rosier, Jiveshan Pillay, Jordan Hermann, Sinethemba Qeshile (wk), Andile Mogokane, Patrick Kruger, Beyers Swanepoel, Renaldo Meyer, Liam Alder, Siya Simetu
HAMZA, VAN BUUREN EASE PRESSURE ON LIONS
The AET Tuskers enjoyed a successful day at the Wanderers on Thursday, compiling 345 in their first innings and then claiming three early DP World Lions’ wickets on the second day of their CSA Four-Day Series match in Johannesburg.
But they were unable to part the significant pairing of Zubayr Hamza and Mitchell van Buuren who eased the Lions out of a tense predicament with an unbroken fourth-wicket partnership of 82 after their team lost two wickets for 16 runs and a third – that of prize scalp Ryan Rickelton – when they had reached 43.
Thando Ntini made the early breakthrough, having Josh Richards (7) caught by Cameron Shekleton with his third ball before Keith Dudgeon trapped the other opener, Muhammad Manack leg before for two. The important wicket of Rickelton followed, also leg before, for 20.
Thereafter it was Hamza and Van Buuren to the rescue for the home team.
At the close, the Lions were 125 for three – a deficit of 220 – with Hamza on 51 (70 balls, 7x4s) while Van Buuren had reached 37 (71 balls, 4x4s). Hamza could count himself lucky to be there, however, after Kagiso Rapulana dropped a simple catch in the covers off Dudgeon when he had 48.
The unheralded Tuskers, bottom of the Division One log, have certainly offered more than nuisance value to the Lions so far.
Resuming on their overnight score of 252 for six, Malcolm Nofal and Cameron Shekleton took their seventh-wicket partnership to 52 before Shekleton was leg before to left-arm spinner Bjorn Fortuin, attempting a sweep. And when Fortuin bowled new batsman Dudgeon first ball, the home team would have expected to be batting before lunch.
But Nofal and Alindile Mhletywa took saw it through to lunch and took their ninth-wicket partnership to 32 before Mhletywa, perhaps a little over-confident, danced down the track to Fortuin and was stumped by Rickelton. He had contributed 20 in 70 balls – further frustration for the home team.
A 90-minute break for rain immediately after lunch increased the frustration factor for the Lions and Nofal, who had been denied the strike for long portions of his innings, cut loose, hooking Duanne Olivier for six, before slicing Moreki to Van Buuren at point. His valuable 71 – his fifth first-class 50 – had come in 102 balls and included six fours and a six.
Olivier, Tshepo Moreki and Fortuin all claimed three wickets for the Lions.
Nofal, who had been denied the strike for long portions of his innings, then cut loose, hooking Duanne Olivier for six, before slicing Moreki to Mitchell van Buuren at point.
DP WORLD LIONS: Bjorn Fortuin (capt), Codi Yusuf, Duanne Olivier, Joshua Richards, Malusi Siboto, Mitchell van Buuren, Muhammad Manack, Ryan Rickleton (wk), Tshepo Moreki, Wandile Makwetu, Zubayr Hamza
AET TUSKERS: Yaseen Valli, Ben Compton, Kagiso Rapulana, Tian Koekemoer, Michael Erlank (capt), Malcolm Nofal, Alindile Mhletywa, Keith Dudgeon, Thomsanga Kumalo, Cameron Shekleton, Thando Ntini.
