Dolphins hold nerve in a thriller

Kyle Abbott bowled a miserly last over to help Dolphins clinch a two-run win over Titans in Centurion. At the start of the last over, Titans needed seven runs with two wickets in hand, but Abbott gave away four singles to take Dolphins to their third win in the Momentum Cup.

Chasing 265, Titans remained in the hunt mainly because of contributions from two batsmen - Henry Davids and David Wiese. Davids continued his productive run in the tournament with a controlled 76 off 102 balls and managed the chase even as wickets fell regularly at the other end. He was the sixth wicket to fall with 81 needed off 89 balls. That wicket gave the Dolphins bowlers a chance to pressurise the lower order with a few tight overs and with 46 needed off the last five, they had the upper hand. But Wiese hit the next over from Abbot for 21 runs to bring the chase back on track. He fell in the very next over though, and the Dolphins bowlers bowled two tight overs in the end to pull off the win.

Dolphins were put into bat and were left reeling on 55 for 3 in the 16th over. But opener Divan van Wyk and Cody Chetty shared an 88-run stand, both scoring half-centuries in the process, before van Wyk fell to Rowan Richards in the 31st over. Late cameos by Robert Frylinck, who scored unbeaten 46 off 31 balls, and Abbott, 29 off 18, lifted Dolphins to 264.

Cape Cobras shot to second on the points table after a 37-run win over Warriors in Capetown. Cobras chose to bat and built up a solid base with a 99-run second-wicket stand between Richard Levi and Stiaan van Zyl. Levi, who hit 13 boundaries in his 83, fell in the 29th over, but van Zyl found another ally in Yaseen Vallie as the two put on 107 for the fourth wicket. Vallie, who scored 58 off 52 balls, was out in the 46th over and van Zyl, who scored 86, followed in the next over. But Justin Ontong took 19 runs off the last over bowled by Andrew Birch to help the Cobras finish strongly on 283.

Warriors' openers Jon Jon Smuts and Ashwell Prince gave their team an ideal start with a 93-run partnership. Smuts was the first one to fall, just after completing his half-century, and from there on Cobras' bowlers kept picking regular wickets. Warriors failed to construct any meaningful partnership and fell 37 runs short.