Durban – Dolphins coach Lance Klusener admits that the progress he has seen after one match of the new season is good, despite again losing a four-day game when they went down to the Lions in the Sunfoil Series over the weekend.
The Durban franchise have suffered a wretched first-class run in recent years – the latest negative result leaving them with only five wins in 41 matches – following a 53-run defeat in Johannesburg.
“I’m upset that we didn’t nail the game when we should have,” Klusener said on Tuesday.
“We had an opportunity early on and again late in the match.
“But we’ve put ourselves in a position to win on Sunday. It hasn’t been something that’s really been the case in the past, that we’ve stayed in the fight.
“So it was good and it’s heartening to see we’re on the right track.”
The 41-year-old, who was taking charge of the team for the first time since taking over on a full-time basis, insisted he was not worried about the team's victory drought.
“I’m not too worried about that, but rather the processes in getting us there,” he said.
“I have no doubt it will happen if we keep getting ourselves into the right position.
“We know the turn is around the corner. It’s just frustrating that we didn’t do it first up because it would have been a nice learning curve for the youngsters.”
However, he conceded that they needed to start pouncing on the opportunities presented to them sooner, rather than later.
“You always back yourself with 90 runs and six wickets to spare,” Klusener said of the result in which Chris Morris blew them away with eight for 44 in the second innings.
“Morris bowled well, but I don’t think well enough to defend that. So again, we’re bloody upset with ourselves about that.
“I can’t say anyone let us down, but just as a team we didn’t grab our opportunities that came along.
“Pretty much everybody got a start, but no-one got really nailed in. Fifties and 60s aren’t good enough, we need someone to get a big hundred and that’s really what sets up games.”
The Dolphins’ opponents this week are the Warriors, a side that has also struggled in the four-day game in recent seasons, but who thumped defending champions Titans by 161 runs in their season-opener last week.
Klusener added that the Warriors were a dangerous side and had the potential to mix up their play.
“We need to be wary, but we need to concentrate on our own game as well and things we want to achieve rather than the opposition,” he said.
The Dolphins have kept the same 12-man squad for the clash, although Klusener confirmed that off-break bowler Prenelan Subrayen was likely to make his four-day debut.
The Dolphins: Imraan Khan, Divan van Wyk, Jonathan Vandiar, David Miller, Cody Chetty, Daryn Smit (captain), Robbie Freylinck, Kyle Abbott, Dane Paterson, Craig Alexander, Prenelan Subrayen. – Sapa