Dolphins halt Bears as rain threatens.

Border's recent improvement, in which they had won their last three matches following three defeats to start their Standard Bank Cup campaign, came to a shuddering halt as KwaZulu-Natal beat them by 58 runs on the Duckworth-Lewis method, jumping three places to fourth on the log in the process.

Set 219 for victory, the home side was struggling on 105 for six when rain, which had been threatening for some time, forced the players off the field in the 25th over. Five overs were lost and the game resumed with Border needing a further 102 off 15.3 overs, or 93 balls, to win.

They got less than half of them, with top-scorer Laden Gamiet failing to add to a somewhat laboured 36 after the resumption - he faced 79 balls in all - and Piet Botha, Tyron Henderson and finally Vasbert Drakes dying for the cause as Border slumped to 148 all out after just 34.1 overs.

Jon Kent had spearheaded the Dolphins' attack before the break, claiming the scalps of Pieter Strydom, Craig Sugden and Wayne Wiblin, for an eventual analysis of three for 42, but the wickets were shared around after the rain, with four bowlers, including skipper Dale Benkenstein, each snaring a victim.

Earlier, Border had done relatively well to hold the visitors to 218 for eight off their 45 overs. Doug Watson (14 off 14 balls) and Ashraf Mall, who top-scored with 65 off 104 balls, had given them a rollicking start. Mall, who made his third half-century in four matches, got 19 off his first 15 balls as he demonstrated his willingness to go over the top with the field up. By the first ball of his third over, Botha had conceded 22 runs, but he trapped Watson in front later in the over en route to a reasonable comeback, finishing with two for 53. Tyron Henderson, Liam Graham and Strydom also picked up two wickets each.

A whirlwind 29 off 21 balls late in the piece from Goolam Bodi and a more sedate 32 in the middle order from Benkenstein were the main supporting knocks for Mall, who is enjoying a purple patch he'll be hoping is set to continue for some time yet.