The Mangaung Oval is the biggest ground in the country however, this makes it a lot harder to score runs as boundaries are less frequent than at the other stadiums.

The Dolphins do have the luxury of having the two former Knights cricketers, Keegan Petersen and Ottniel Baartman, while their assistant coach, Quinton Friend, is also a former Knights stalwart.

The former SA A seamer told OFM Sport they have to know how to use the field in their favour.

“It's always nice to be back in Bloem and I hope that I will be able to give the team a bit of a rundown on the perimeters of the field.

“We know that Bloem is the biggest ground in the country and you've got to be clever in the way that you structure your innings.

“The par score at the ground is only 157, so it's not a ground that you can look at where it's all about free flowing T20 cricket.”

The Dragons contracted well during the offseason and boast with several key players such as the captain, Nicky van den Bergh, as well as the spinner Senuran Muthusamy and the former Knight, Duan Jansen.

The Dolphins assistant coach, Quinton Friend, told OFM Sport that they will have to be on the money on Friday morning.

“We've got a big encounter first up against North West. They are an experienced team with a lot of big names players.

“It's important that we will have to be on top of our game if we want to win that specific match.

“From that point of view, we have trained superbly well and we look forward to the competition.”

Fridays’ game in Bloemfontein gets underway at 10:00.

Morgan Piek OFM Sport