Tag: Kevin Pietersen

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KP JOINS DOLPHINS FOR THE RAM SLAM T20

The Sunfoil Dolphins have re-signed global T20 star Kevin Pietersen for the upcoming RAM Slam T20 Challenge, adding a fresh injection of energy as the franchise prepares for the 2016/17 domestic cricket season.

Pietersen has again signed a five-match deal that will see him represent the KZN franchise in the second half of the round robin stage and will also turn out for the Dolphins in the playoff and final should the team progress to the knockout phase of the competition.

“I’m as excited as anything to have signed with the Dolphins again,” explains Pietersen.

“I had such a wonderful season with them last season and I really enjoyed the team, the camaraderie and the competition so it was a very easy decision to sign again for this season’s T20 competition.

“It will be great to getting back onto the cricket field again and I’m really looking forward to seeing everyone in Durban again as well.

“Here’s to a successful campaign!” he adds.

While disappointed to see Sunfoil Dolphins CEO, Pete de Wet’s time in charge of the KZN franchise draw to a close shortly, Pietersen is relishing the opportunity of working with newly appointed head coach, Grant Morgan again.

“It has been an absolute pleasure to deal with Pete (de Wet) – I’m sorry to see him leave the Dolphins, but I’m really excited to work with Grant Morgan who I know very well,” says Pietersen.

“Its great to have Kevin coming back and playing for the Dolphins again this season. He is a world class player in all formats of the game and in T20 he is no doubt one of the best there has ever been.” Said Morgan.

While Pietersen’s mentoring role was again evident during his time with the Dolphins last season, taking players such as Andile Phehlukwayo under his wing and guiding the exciting all-rounder, it was his effort with the bat that left the most telling impression.

The former Maritzburg College pupil and KZN age group player blasted 401 runs in just seven innings – including two hundreds and two fifties at an average of 80.20 and a strike of 172.84 – that ignited the competition as a whole and played a key role in seeing the Dolphins reach the final.

“Through my involvement with the Warriors last year, from the side of the field one could see and feel the impact Kevin had on the game,” says Morgan. “His results were of a freakish nature that really helped pilot the Dolphins into the final.”

“It’s a privilege to have a player join us at the Dolphins who has such an impact on the squad, the tournament as well as the fans and we look forward to him having a huge impact on our team, and indeed the whole competition, once again.”

Outgoing CEO, De Wet is another thrilled by Pietersen’s return and believes his inclusion in the squad’s T20 plans will yield positive results for the franchise.

“I’m extremely pleased we’ve been able to sign Kevin to the Sunfoil Dolphins again for this season’s RAM Slam T20 Challenge,” says De Wet.

“He added immense value to our franchise last year and having a guy like him around can only do wonders for the Dolphins again this time around.”

“We got very close to winning the T20 competition last year but unfortunately weren’t able to get over the line against the Titans in the final; hopefully having KP around again this year can help us achieve part of what we’re trying to achieve as a franchise this season.”

De Wet is also confident the remainder of the Dolphins squad has what it takes to achieve the franchise’s goals for 2016/17 and wishes the players and coaching staff well for their upcoming campaign.

“As the Dolphins gear up for a big season, Grant (Morgan) has been working really hard with the players that are not playing overseas and are available to him now and we’re already starting to see those guys hitting their straps.

“I will look back on my tenure at the Dolphins with much fondness and will certainly be keeping a close tabs on the results from New Zealand.

“I would like to wish the squad all the best of luck and hope that they will continue to put in the hard yards in the next couple of weeks and months leading up to the season.

“I have no doubt that they will bring success to Dolphins franchise in the very near future,” says De Wet.

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MOSEHLE BLASTS TITANS TO RAM SLAM VICTORY

 Mangaliso Mosehle played his finest innings to date in one of the biggest matches of his career to help The Unlimited Titans lift the RAM SLAM T20 trophy in front of a full house home crowd at SuperSport Park. 

 

After the Sunfoil Dolphins had posted what looked to be a challenging 159 for five, Mosehle walked in at No. 3 and smashed seven sixes to score 87 from 39 balls. Although Mosehle and Henry Davids (35), with whom he put on 123 in 67 balls for the second wicket, fell to successive deliveries from Kyle Abbott, by that stage the game was won. With just 12 runs needed from 33 balls, Farhaan Behardien and Albie Morkel merely needed to keep their heads, which they did to record a seven-wicket win with 19 balls to spare. 

 

It was the first time since the 2011/12 season that the Titans had won the domestic Twenty20 competition, and it gave Rob Walter his third trophy since taking over as coach of the franchise at the start of the 2013/14 season. Given their dominance in the league phase, when they won eight games on the trot and finished 13 points clear at the top of the table, nobody could claim they were not deserved winners. One of the keys to their success has been the number of bases that they cover, and that was the case once again.

 

Albie Morkel was able to call on no fewer than eight bowling options, all of whom did a job as the Dolphins were strangled in the middle period of their innings. With runs hard to come by, Morne van Wyk (29), Jonathan Vandiar (26) and Kevin Pietersen all holed out as they tried to get the scoreboard going. A late blast from Dwayne Bravo and David Miller gave the visitors something to bowl at as they took 65 off the last six overs, with Bravo making 53 from 30 balls and Miller scoring 33. But that proved inadequate once Mosehle got going. While he has a List A century to his name as well as an unbeaten 93 in the shortest format, neither have come in such a pressure situation. As he went hard at the Dolphins, their bowlers had no answer, with Imran Tahir taking the worst punishment when Mosehle took 24 off his second over. That took the required rate below a run a ball, and the Titans eased home from there. Davids was named RAM Deliverer of the Day and Mosehle RAM Slammer of the day.

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DOLPHINS SET THE STAGE FOR A THRILLING RAM SLAM FINAL

TheCape Cobras contrived to blow the advantage given to them by Richard Levi’s superb innings, as the Sunfoil Dolphins clung on for a thrilling five-run victory at Sahara Stadium Kingsmead that put them into the RAM SLAM T20 Challenge Final. Andile Phehlukwayo was once again the bowling hero at the death for the Dolphins, being given the 18th and 20th overs to take 2/7 and also build the pressure that led to the run out of Justin Ontong.

With Levi blitzing 85 from just 43 balls, the Cobras went into the last five overs of their chase needing just a run a ball with seven wickets in hand to win the play-off.

Although Levi had departed by that stage, with plenty of batting to come the Cobras looked certain victors, but they went on to lose five wickets for the addition of just 19 runs to grab defeat from the jaws of victory. The Dolphins will now travel to SuperSport Park to take on The Unlimited Titans in Saturday’s final, with their belief undoubtedly buoyed. After winning the toss and electing to bat first, they saw Cameron Delport put up his first significant score of the campaign as he scored 55 from 37 balls in an opening partnership with Morne van Wyk (57) that was worth 99.

That set the tone, and allowed David Miller and Kevin Pietersen to do what they do best once the openers had departed. The pair hit two sixes apiece, with Pietersen making 27 from 10 balls and Miller finishing unbeaten on 33 from 24 balls, as the Dolphins posted 178 for three. No team has scored more than 179 in the competition this season, and so it was clear that the Cobras faced a stiff challenge, particularly with a lack of firepower in their middle-order. Levi produced the big innings when they needed it most, bludgeoning seven sixes in a brutal innings that saw him reach 50 in just 20 deliveries.

The Cobras romped to 77 without loss in the power play, with Wayne Parnell (27) playing the supporting role, and, even after Levi misjudged the length and pace of a Delport delivery to depart in the 14th over, the game should have been in the bag. Yet the Cobras hit just two boundaries from that point on – both of them by Lesiba Ngoepe (32) – and the pressure built up progressively as a result.

It was then that Phehlukwayo became the hero for the Dolphins – and not for the first time in this season’s competition either – bowling two of the last three overs, during which he conceded just seven runs off the bat and claimed two wickets, while Justin Ontong was also run out in his final over. The all-rounder is still four months shy of his 20th birthday on March 3 next year, but will now have the opportunity to showcase his growing skills and impressive nerve in South Africa’s most high-profile domestic game on Saturday.

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MORRIS SENDS DOLPHINS PLUMMETING TO DEFEAT

Chris Morris  consigned the Sunfoil Dolphins to their lowest ever Twenty20 total as The Unlimited Titans shot to the top of the RAM SLAM T20 table with a comprehensive victory at Sahara Stadium Kingsmead.

 

The Titans looked to have fallen short of a good total when they were limited to 136 for nine on a slow Durban wicket, but Morris returned figures of 4 for 9 in three overs as the Dolphins were rolled for 70 to give the visitors a bonus point.

 

While the droughts around the country have led to drier pitches that have aided spin in the competition, that trend changed on Wednesday as the pacemen found a surface to their liking.

 

The short ball claimed a handful of victims on either side, while the yorker also proved a deadly weapon.

 

With most batsmen failing to deal with the change, Quinton de Kock’s 38 at the top of the Titans order made all the difference in the end, even with Ryan McLaren using the conditions wisely to bounce out Albie Morkel and york David Wiese and finish with figures of 3 for 28.

 

Six of the Titans top seven reached double figures without going any further, a statistic that appeared glum at the innings break but then looked like a luxury at the end of the game.

 

The Dolphins batting line-up had been powerful in the first half of the competition but there was a suspicion it was being held together by Kevin Pietersen, and so it proved in the first game after the Englishman’s departure.

 

David Miller (12) and Dwayne Bravo (27) were the only players to reach double figures, as Morris claimed two wickets up front and two later on.

 

With Morkel (2 for 14 in four overs) and Junior Dala (2 for 13 in 2.4 overs) also chipping in – the former using the short ball to good effect and the latter bowling fuller – the Dolphins were bowled out in just 15.4 overs, finishing short of their previous lowest total, which was the 82 they made against the Knights at the same venue last season.

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TITANS FACE TESTING WEEK IN BATTLE AT THE TOP

With four straight wins under their belt The Unlimited Titans may be the form team in the RAM SLAM T20, but they know that they face their toughest challenges in the competition this week, starting with Wednesday’s visit to the Sunfoil Dolphins. Losing to the Dolphins in their opening game, the Titans have gone on an impressive winning streak to sit level with their opponent at the top of the standings.

But this week sees them visit the Dolphins and then travel to Cape Town to take on the third-placed Cape Cobras on Friday, making it a crucial few days in the race for top spot and an automatic place in the final.

The Titans have retained the same squad that conquered the Warriors over the weekend, with coach, Rob Walter, enjoying the depth that he has found in his ranks.

“We’ve changed our team pretty much every game for varying reasons – from family loss to injury to game plans – so what’s nice is that the guys who have come in and got an opportunity to play have stood up and done something for us,” said Walter.

“So we’re happy with everyone’s form, and we want to be able to field a team that is specific to our opposition or the conditions, and know that whoever we bring in is in form and is ready to play. We obviously have good momentum, but I see Wednesday and Friday as being our biggest challenges.”

After winning their first four games, the Dolphins were finally felled on Sunday when Wayne Parnell engineered a five-wicket win for the Cobras.

“It’s just the nature of the game,” reflected Morne van Wyk. “It’s such a short format that you have to be on the ball all of the time, and it’s hard to claw yourself back if you aren’t.”

The Dolphins do, however, need to figure out their best combinations now that Kevin Pietersen has departed, Prenelan Subrayen has been banned from bowling and Kyle Abbott has flown to India to play for the Proteas.

After scoring 77 off just 46 balls for KZN Inland in the CSA Provincial T20 Challenge this weekend, Vaughn van Jaarsveld has returned to the Dolphins squad along with Sibonelo Makhanya.

While SuperSport Park’s quicker surface did not require a spinning ally for Keshav Maharaj on Sunday, replacing Subrayen, who took 4 for 22 the last time these teams met, may be a priority for Sahara Stadium Kingsmead’s conditions on Wednesday.

“It will be tough to replace him because he’s a star performer who’s done really well for us, but you need your squad to perform in a competition and it’s an opportunity for someone else to contribute and showcase their skills,” said Van Wyk.

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