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Dolphins happy with start ahead of Knights showdown

Cape Town - Dolphins captain Khaya Zondo is pleased with their overall start to the One-Day Cup season, saying that anyone will be happy with three wins from four heading into match five on Saturday.

The Durban-based side welcome the Knights to Kingsmead, having lost top spot to the Warriors in midweek.

They were comfortably beaten in their top-of-the-table clash by the Eastern Cape franchise and must now regroup ahead of their clash with the bottom-placed Knights.

"I think every game is important, so we're looking forward to it," he said. "We've got to re-plan for them, hopefully we can put on a better show on Saturday."

Reflecting on the loss on Tuesday, which came after they had won three matches in a row previously, Zondo said:  "We kept losing wickets at crucial times in that game and when they batted, they did it a lot better than us. They did well and hopefully we can bounce back from that in the next one."

Despite the defeat, Grant Morgan’s men are still extremely well placed as they reach the halfway stage of the regular 50-over season.

They have 12 points so far, two less than the Warriors, who are joint defending champions alongside the Dolphins.

"Anyone will take three wins to start," Zondo explained. "If the tournament hadn't started and you'd offer that to any side, no one will refuse.

"So, we've got three out of four and we'll take it any day. Now we've got to build on this and just make sure we keep on getting more wins."

The Dolphins also have another challenge to cope with this weekend - they will now be without three key players. David Miller, Andile Phehlukwayo and Imran Tahir have all departed for national duty, leaving some major holes to fill.

But Zondo is not worried.

"They leave, but we've got more than capable replacements," he added. "We've got quite a strong squad so it's not an issue at all."

The Knights have bigger problems heading into the match. They have not won any of their opening four games, with their only points coming via a wash-out against the Highveld Lions.

Their assistant coach, Werner Coetsee, is nonetheless optimistic of bouncing back in Durban, but has warned of the dangers posed by the hosts.

"They a side that is playing well," he said. "They've had a good start to the competition by winning three out of four games.

"But for us to go there, we just want to keep improving. We're playing good cricket and it's just the results that unfortunately haven't come our way.

"We want to keep improving each and every game. They will still need to be at their best to get past us on Saturday."

The Dolphins squad is: 

Vaughn van Jaarsveld, Morne van Wyk, Sarel Erwee, Dane Vilas, Khaya Zondo (capt), Senuran Muthusamy, Robbie Frylinck, Keshav Maharaj, Prenelan Subrayen, Okuhle Cele, Mthokozisi Shezi, Marques Ackerman

The Knights squad is: 

Not available

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