Rocks (Boland) beat Dolphins by seven wickets with three balls remaining at Karwan Cricket Ground, reaching 178/3 in reply to 174/4. A substantial opening stand gave Rocks control of the chase after Dolphins had depended on a fourth-wicket recovery in this CSA T20 Challenge 2026 contest. See the full scorecard.
Viljoen rebuilds Dolphins after three early wickets
Rocks elected to bowl and quickly broke through. Glenton Stuurman had Romashan Pillay caught by Lehan Botha for 2, before Lizaad Williams removed Bryce Parsons and Jason Smith in the fourth over. Parsons was caught by Blayde Capell for 6; Smith followed without scoring, caught by Siyabonga Mahima, leaving Dolphins 12/3.
That opening left little room for another setback, but Hanu Viljoen made 114 from 59 balls to transform the innings. His 11 fours and seven sixes supplied the attacking force, while Ntando Zuma provided continuity at the other end, finishing unbeaten on 42 from 41 deliveries with three fours.
Their fourth-wicket partnership of 162 lasted until the final delivery, when Viljoen was run out. From an innings in danger of being defined by its early losses, Dolphins had built a total that gave their bowlers something to defend. The contrast between the two contributions was central: Zuma stayed through the recovery, while Viljoen supplied most of its runs and all of Dolphins' sixes.
Rocks nevertheless had important bowling returns beyond the early breakthroughs. Mahima conceded just 16 from his four wicketless overs, limiting the scoring despite being unable to separate the pair. Stuurman finished with 1/25, while Williams returned 2/34 with a maiden. Those spells helped contain the damage from Viljoen's assault.
Capell and Kaplan lay the platform for Botha
Rocks avoided the disruption that had shaped Dolphins' innings. Blayde Capell struck 90 from 53 balls, including six fours and five sixes, while Gavin Kaplan contributed 55 from 44 with six boundaries. Their opening partnership of 119 carried the chase into the 14th over before Kaplan was caught by Parsons off Prenelan Subrayen.
Lehan Botha then added 40 with Capell, keeping Rocks moving towards the target. Capell's dismissal at 159/2 in the 18th over, caught by Keshav Maharaj off Okuhle Cele, gave Dolphins an opening, and Ottneil Baartman removed Neil Brand for 4 in the following over.
Baartman's 1/22 from four overs was Dolphins' most restrictive return, but the late wickets did not undo Rocks' earlier work. Botha finished unbeaten on 26 from 14 balls, with three fours and a six. His unbroken stand of 14 with Ferisco Adams, who remained scoreless, completed a chase built on a far steadier start than Dolphins had managed.