A series of dropped catches by the home team enabled the Eagles to run out victors by four wickets in their Standard Bank Cup cricket match at Kingsmead on Wednesday night.
Chasing 182 runs to win, the Eagles scored the runs with just five balls remaining.
They were in trouble early in their innings as newcomer Yusuf Abdullah, a fiery left-arm seamer, added spice to the KwaZulu-Natal Dolphins as he and Andrew Tweedie nipped out the first three batsmen for just 16 runs.
The game then turned as a succession of dropped catches saw the Eagles mount a match-winning challenge, initially through the two Ryans — McLaren and Bailey — as they added 86 for the sixth wicket.
McLaren made 40, as did Bailey, who was undefeated with Johan van der Wath on 23 not out that included two big hits that secured him 10 runs.
Abdullah, who won accolades when he was identified as an emerging talent, got bounce and pace out of the Kingsmead wicket and his first seven overs went for just 15 runs as he had Morne van Wyk (3) taken in the slips by Dale Benkenstein and then bowled Dave Jacobs with a scorcher (off his bat) for no score.
Tweedie played his part by picking up Jonathan Beukes (8) to a Jon Kent catch.
Their success meant that regular openers Lance Klusener and Mornantau Hayward were able to operate as first-change bowlers, and that paid off when Klusener got rid of the troublesome Loots Bosman in his first over.
Bosman had scored 36 in a fourth-wicket partnership of 44 with Boeta Dippenaar, who was soon sent packing by Hayward to a Duncan Brown wicketkeeping catch for six, scored off 28 balls.
In a bad-luck moment for Abdullah, he missed a catch in the deep offered by Bailey off Klusener and the Free State man was missed again by Brown. Van der Wath was then put down by Benkenstein.
Abdullah eventually finished with two for 17 off nine truly great ”rookie” overs.
Once again the Dolphins’ batting flattered and fluttered and once again deceived as the top order were back in the dressing rooms with a mere 88 for five after 25,3 overs.
But then came a face-saving stand between Ahmed Amla, a man who has been battling to find his provincial form, and Brown as they doubled the tally without being separated in a 94-run record sixth-wicket partnership.
They bettered the previous best by Dale Benkenstein and Lance Klusener against the Western Province-Boland combination last season.
Amla scored his best total of the season with 71 not out off 101 balls that included four boundaries and a huge six. Brown, a lifesaver in the tied match against the Cape Cobras last week, again came to the party with an aggressive 41 not out off 58 balls as they gave the Dolphins something of a cushion in defending a relatively low total of just 182 off 45 overs.
Earlier, Imraan Khan had batted aggressively at the top of the order for 23, but once he departed — caught by Boeta Dippenaar off Cliffie Deacon — a procession followed as Doug Watson (11), Hashim Amla (17), Dale Benkenstein (3) and Jon Kent (7) came and went and the Eagles were soaring high. — Sapa