DURBAN – While the trophy itself was shared, there was a lot more than just the One-Day Cup that was split at Kingsmead on Saturday, once the rain had washed away the reserve day, too.
Ultimately, the Warriors and Dolphins walked away with something, and both their coaches could toast a franchise trophy that means a lot to both.
“I’m just really happy for him (Rivash Gobind) that we could share this,” Grant Morgan said of his opposing coach
There is not a negative bone in the Dolphins coach’s body. He lives for the sport, embracing its metaphors and translating them into deeper meaning for a team that has bought into his philosophy.
“I know we were a bit behind on Friday, at 154/6, but we still had Senuran Muthusamy and Robbie Frylinck at the crease,” he noted. “We still believed we could turn that around, because I’ve seen those guys do just that. But we can’t control the weather.”
The Dolphins have spent an extraordinary amount of time explaining themselves and their weather patterns, but Morgan elaborated on another factor that justifies their billing as one-day champions.
“When I look at it, we’ve beaten every team in the competition. We beat some home and away, and those who beat us once, we beat them by a bigger margin,” Morgan maintained. “That for me makes us champions. We live for the heat of battle, and we would have loved to be out there, but it wasn’t to be.”
And so, in his second season at the helm, Morgan has something to show for all his endeavour. Even on Saturday, before hope of any play was finally abandoned, he was still scribbling away on his white board, mapping out a way to win a reduced-overs match.
“My brain is a bit like a hamster on a wheel,” he said.
He is always working, always looking for inches to nudge his hardworking squad forward.
@whamzam17
IOL Sport