Benkenstein and Breese make the finals

By Jon Steer
March 15 2005

Dale Benkenstein produced a man of the match performance to help the Dolphins to a win over the Warriors and second place in the Supersport league. Gareth Breese played his second Carib Beer match of the season as Jamaica beat the Windward Isles to enforce their place as league champions.

The Dolphins went into the match knowing that they needed an outright win and other results to go their way if they were to capture one of the top two places and qualify for the final. After bowling out the Warriors for 211, the Dolphins were in trouble at 57-3 when Benkenstein came to the wicket. His 159-ball 117 was the only century of the match and included a 161 run fifth wicket stand that put the Dolphins in control when they declared their innings at 362-7. The Warriors stumbled to 251 all out in their second innings leaving the Dolphins a target of just 101 runs for victory. Benkenstein was involved in the action again as he hit 17 from 19 balls to take the victory early on day 4. Benkenstein was rewarded with the man of the match award but the team had to wait until later in the day to find out if their efforts had earned them a place in the final. Their second place was confirmed when Western Province-Boland were unable to beat the Titans despite forcing them to follow on. The Dolphins will play the Eagles in the final at Bloemfontein starting on Thursday.

After last weeks win against Barbados which saw Gareth Breese return from injury and guaranteed that Jamaica finished top of the league, this weeks game against the Windward Isles was just preparation for the final. Jamaica won by an innings and 37 runs to rubber-stamp their place at the top of the Carib Bear league. Breese only scored managed 2 runs his one innings and took just the one wicket but did bowl decent spells in both innings and was getting the ball to turn a lot. Jamaica will host the Leeward islands in the Challenge final.

Mike Hussey was also hoping to lead his side to a domestic final. Western Australia needed an outright win over Queensland to qualify for the final. The advantage was just with the Queensland after the first innings with the Bulls holding a 30 run advantage after Hussey had put them in to bat. Hussey's Warriors were put under pressure in the second innings as Queensland gradually batted them out of the game, eventually reaching 409 all out. Hussey did take three wickets but saw his side set a target of 441 to win from just 48 overs. Hussey hit 54 and ex Durham player Marcus North managed 45 as the Warriors reached 199-4 at the close of play. Queensland will host New South Wales in the final starting on Friday.