JOHANNESBURG: Cameron Delport hit an unbeaten 103 for Dolphins Friday as they defeated Knights by 14 runs to claim a first win of the South African Twenty20 Challenge season.

Delport struck nine fours and five sixes off 58 balls at Durban Test venue Kingsmead as his team ended a five-match winless run that left them bottom of the six-franchise standings.

David Miller (39 not out) and Englishman Ravi Bopara (30) also impressed with the bat for Dolphins after opener Divan van Wyk (5) made an early exit and the hosts reached 179-2 off 20 overs.

Rilee Rossouw (44), Obus Pienaar (32) and and Pite van Biljon (27) did best as Knights made a gallant attempt to overtake Dolphins, only to fall short as they reached 165-6 when the overs ran out.

While Dolphins remained last with six points, Knights slipped one spot to third, three points behind Warriors and eight adrift of pacesetters Highveld Lions.

Former New Zealand all-rounder Scott Styris top scored with an unbeaten 47, including two fours and three sixes, as Titans made 140-6 in Benoni, but lost by 12 runs as they chased the 152-9 set by Warriors.

Lions recovered swiftly from their sole loss this season to emerge the most convincing winners of the sixth round, reaching 120-5 after restricting Cape Cobras to 117-6 in Cape Town. - AFP

Brief scores from South African Twenty20 Challenge matches Friday:

At Benoni

Warriors 152-9 (C. Jonker 50, A. Prince 29, A. McLaren 28; A. Thomas 3-30, R. van der Merwe 2-20, M. de Lange 2-29) v Titans 140-6 (S. Styris 47 no, J. Rudolph 32; W. Parnell 4-25) Warriors win by 12 runs

At Durban

Dolphins 179-2 (C. Delport 103 no, D. Miller 39 no, R. Bopara 30) v Knights 165-6 (R. Rossouw 44, A. Pienaar 32, P.J. van Biljon 27; Y. Abdulla 2-17, C. Savage 2-41) Dolphins win by 14 runs

South African Twenty20 Challenge table after Friday matches (played, won, lost, no result, net run rate, points):

Highveld Lions 6 5 1 0 0.724 21

Warriors 6 4 2 0 -0.088 16

Knights 6 3 3 0 0.052 13

Titans 6 2 3 1 0.053 10 Cape Cobras 6 2 4 0 0.098 8

Dolphins 6 1 4 1 -0.809 6

Note: Team finishing first after double round qualifies for final and those coming second and third play-off for the other place

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