Warriors work on their batting for Knights clash

THE Chevrolet Warriors may be bottom of the Sunfoil Series standings, but with five games still to play captain Davy Jacobs believes a full recovery is possible if they can bounce straight back from last week's result and beat the Chevrolet Knights at Chevrolet Park in Bloemfontein. The Warriors went into their fixture against the Sunfoil Dolphins last week undefeated in the competition, but so tight are the six franchises on the log that an innings loss plunged them to the bottom of the table. "We were mostly disappointed with our batting in the first innings because if you score 170 you're always going to be chasing the game. We had a hard chat about things and we need to improve," Jacobs said. The first-innings performance was in marked contrast to the Warriors' showing in the first four games, when their lowest total was 398. "That's what we talked about after the game, because if you get 350 or 400 in the first innings then you're always in the game," Jacobs said. "We just let ourselves down on the first day, especially after winning the toss on a good wicket. "We're only halfway through the competition and if you win games you'll always be up there, but we have a lot of work to do so we have to start now with this next game – we need to start winning games now." The Knights also go into the game today on the back of a defeat, having lost to The Unlimited Titans by seven wickets to give up top spot on the log. They now trail the table-topping Nashua Mobile Cape Cobras by eight points. "We still fancy our chances – there are five teams close together and then another one a little bit behind, but halfway through this Sunfoil Series is wide open, to be honest," coach Sarel Cilliers said. Both teams expect to name unchanged sides for today's game. Meanwhile, bragging rights will be at stake in the top-of-the-table clash between the Cape Cobras and Dolphins in Paarl, starting today. Both sides have been in good form this season and will face each other for the first time since their meeting in the Ram Slam Twenty20 final, which saw the Dolphins ending a trophy drought. Both teams are also high on confidence, being on the back of impressive victories in the last round of four-day matches last weekend. The Cobras beat the Lions by 47 runs, while the Dolphins continued their good form with an emphatic innings and 45 runs win over the Warriors. Cobras captain Justin Ontong foresees a tightly contested battle between his table-topping Cobras and the second- placed Dolphins. "It's first versus second, and the Dolphins are also brimming with confidence after winning the T20 competition, as well as winning last week [against the Warriors]. It's going to be a tough contest," Ontong said. Despite being pleased with the recent form and performances of his charges, Dolphins captain Morne van Wyk expects continuity while keeping an eye on the ultimate prize – trophies. "We've managed to put ourselves into a good position in this competition, but I'm going to say exactly what I did for the other competitions, which is that a good position isn't good enough anymore. "We want to win trophies, especially in this competition, and we must be hungry for it," Van Wyk said. The Wanderers will be hosting the Gauteng derby between the Highveld Lions and the Titans.