A consummate bowling performance, highlighted by the individual brilliance of wicketkeeper Dylan Jennings, saw Easterns take command of their four-day Supersport Series match against KwaZulu-Natal at Willowmoore Park on Saturday.

The home team finished the day with a lead of 226 runs after bowling out the Dolphins for a meagre total of 123.

But the day was highlighted by a spectacular performance behind the stumps by gloveman Jennings that was instrumental in dismissing the Dolphins and leaving them 122 runs adrift of Easterns' first innings total of 225.

Jennings took six catches on the day.

West Indian quickie Kenny Benjamin exploited the early morning humid and overcast conditions to extract swing and bounce from a responsive track, and was duly rewarded with the wickets of Doug Watson and Ahmed Amla.

Both batsmen were caught behind to give Jennings the first two of his six victims.

Jennings went on to claim the wickets of fellow keeper Errol Stewart (1), John Kent (2), Dale Benkenstein (19) and Ross Veenstra (22).

His performance with the gloves was one short of the South African first class record, a distinction that he would have shared with 10 others.

With the Dolphins certainly out of their depth at 11 for two, Mark Bruyns (32) and Andrew Hudson (25) did their best to turn a disastrous innings around with a third-wicket partnership of 51 in an hour off 83 deliveries.

Bruyns fell at 62 for three, and two more wickets went in quick succession to leave the Dolphins floundering at 68 for five in the space of six overs.

It brought back memories of Natal's last outing at this ground when they were bowled out for 153 in a Standard Bank Cup match.

Benjamin finished with figures of 3/23 off 10 overs, while Gareth Flusk also claimed a three-wicket haul.

Easterns finished the day on 104 for two in their second innings.

Easterns captain Deon Jordaan (38 not out) and Pierre de Bruyn (14 not out) will take up the challenge on Sunday, with a third-wicket partnership that already stands at 55 runs.

Earlier in the day, Easterns resumed on their overnight score of 222, but could only add a further 23 runs as John Kent wrapped up the tail to finish with figures of 24.4-5-77-6, easily surpassing his previous best of 3/58.

© CricInfo