EXCLUSIVE | Ackerman believes Dolphins have match winners to succeed ahead of new season

Dolphins top-order batter Marques Ackerman believes that the KwaZulu-Natal-based team has an abundance of match winners, a feat that the 29-year-old believes will bring them success in the upcoming 2025/26 domestic season.

The Dolphins had a successful 2024/25 season where they won the Division One List A competition, the Cricket South Africa One Day Cup, where they beat Boland in the final.

With the 2025/26 season set to get underway later this month, the Dolphins have their sights on winning all three trophies, a goal that all teams generally share ahead of the start of the new season.

Top-order batter Ackerman believes that the Dolphins have good players to retain their One Day Cup title and compete for the other two Division One trophies this season.

“The pre-season is done. The guys have been working hard on what we can do better, things that we have done well that we can keep doing, and then we can just take it game by game. I think that’s the most important thing,” Ackerman told Independent Media. 

“We’ve got a good squad with a lot of match winners in our team. The end goal for every single team is to win all three formats. We’ve had a bit of success over the last few years, and long may that continue for the Dolphins.”

Ackerman is currently leading the South Africa ‘A’ squad in the inbound tour of New Zealand ‘A’. The 29-year-old has led the squad to an unassailable 2-0 50-over series lead with the third and final match set to get underway in Benoni on Wednesday.

Top-order batter Rubin Hermann has been the highlight in the series thus far, as he has scored back-to-back centuries to go with his younger brother Jordan Hermann’s century in the second match of the series.

The captain, Ackerman, praised the two batters for their performances and added that South Africa ‘A’ are now solely focused on completing a 3-0 series sweep over New Zealand ‘A’.

“I’ll tell you one thing, the two knocks (Rubin Hermann’s) have been unbelievable innings. It’s put us in two winning positions, and we’ve won the series now. It’s awesome to see guys flourish and perform at the SA ‘A’ level,” said Ackerman.

“It’s no surprise to me. The guys have been putting in some really good and hard work in the nets, and just seeing the progression of how the guys have been going is quite special.

“The two games are now done. Our next focus is tomorrow. So, we’re not really too focused on what we’ve achieved, it’s just about the next game and making sure that we make it 3-0.”