The Dolphins take on the Lahore Lions in Saturday’s afternoon match in the Champions League t20 2014.
The winners of the Dolphins versus Lahore Lions fixture at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore on Saturday, will keep their hopes alive, at least for a few hours of qualifying from Group A into the semi-finals of the 2014 Champions League T20 tournament.
In reality, the Dolphins from South Africa have little chance of making the knockout stages, having lost both their matches so far, and having a very poor overall run rate compared to their rivals.
The Lions on the other hand, who had to come through the pre-tournament play-offs to even take part in the main draw, know that victory in their last two matches could see them scrape through in second place, if other results also go their way.
Lahore’s chances were either helped or hindered, depending on your point of view by the weather in Bangalore on Thursday. Persistent rain forced their match against the Chennai Super kIngs to be abandoned without a ball delivered, indeed without the toss even taking place.
The outcome has probably been more of a worry to the Indian franchise than their Pakistani opponents.
Having lost their opening fixture to the Kolkata Knight Riders, Chennai are now faced with a must win match against the Perth Scorchers in the late match on Saturday. Defeat would see the Super Kings eliminated, while a win would almost certainly see them through, but would allow the Lions a chance to overtake them on run rate, and steal the second qualifying spot alongside the Knight Riders.
Dolphins were effectively knocked out by their defeat to Chennai, who blasted a CLT20 record equalling 242 for 6, led by Suresh Raina with 90 off of just 43 balls, ensuring that the Dolphins wouldn’t spring a surprise result.
Even so, the Dolphins were to be commended for the way in which they set about their run chase. Unfortunately for them, a regular fall of wickets meant that they were unable to seriously challenge their target, and they could start packing their bags for home.