Johannesburg — Prenelan Subrayen smashed 22 off 11 balls and then picked up three wickets to steer the Dolphins into the final of the CSA T20 Challenge.
Subrayen turned the match in his team’s favour in the last over of their innings, when he scored 17 runs off the first four balls of the over, bowled by Bamanye Xenxe. Until that stage, the Dolphins innings had unfolded in fits and starts. Their openers Keegan Petersen, who scored 25 off 19 balls and Grant Roelofson, with 26 off 30 had shared an opening stand of 42 in 5.1 overs. However, with the Rocks’s spinners Shaun von Berg and Leus du Plooy, proving difficult to score against on a dry and slow surface, the Dolphins collapsed losing six wickets for 49 runs in eight overs.
Along with Von Berg and Du Plooy, Xenxe picked up four wickets, pushing his total for the tournament to 18. However, the 25 year old right arm seamer, who has had a breakout tournament in Potchefstroom, erred badly in the last over missing his lines and in one catastrophic moment his length — so badly he bowled a shoulder high full toss which Subrayen edged over third man for six.
The mood in the Dolphins dugout changed from doom to delight, with Imran Khan their coach, high-fiving his players as they came off the field.
The key period for both teams was going to be the middle overs when Subrayen and Jon-Jon Smuts were set to deliver their overs. Smuts bowled the in-form Clyde Fortuin for seven and trapped Christiaan Joncker, his former teammate at the Warriors lbw for five putting the Rocks under pressure.
The Paarl-based team folded badly. Even the veteran Ferhaan Berhardien couldn’t get the ball away, and despite some lusty hitting from Hardus Viljoen towards the latter stages of the innings the Rocks never recovered.
Smuts picked up 2/17, and Subrayen finished with 3/18, to propel their team into Saturday’s final where they will face the Multiply Titans.
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