Pressure on Warriors with key players out

Captain Ingram and bowler Magala missing

THE Warriors will be without two star players when they take on the Dolphins in a Sunfoil Series fixture at Buffalo Park in East London starting today. Captain Colin Ingram and fast bowler Sisanda Magala will be missing.

Ingram has been ruled out because of a back injury. He will be assessed next week ahead of the match against the Cobras. Magala has a family commitment. Offspinner Simon Harmer will captain the team in Ingram’s absence.

Both the Warriors and Dolphins have struggled in this campaign.

The hosts have endured a miserable four-day season to date, losing four out of their five games, the other being a washout against the same opponents in Maritzburg.

But there is hope for them, according to coach Malibongwe Maketa.

“We can only get better from here,” he said. “We are bottom of the table and the only way for us is up. It’s what we’ll be trying to do over the next month or so.”

Despite their woes in four-day cricket, the Warriors have had better joy in the limitedovers game. They reached the qualifier in the recently concluded Momentum Cup and narrowly missed out on the Ram Slam T20 Challenge playoffs earlier in the campaign.

“There were some encouraging signs in the way we played one-day cricket,” Maketa said.

In terms of four-day matches, Maketa said the biggest letdown so far had been the side’s first-innings totals.

He described this as the side’s achilles heel, but said the target was to bring about an improvement in that area.

Maketa also confirmed the Warriors “will be giving a few youngsters an opportunity” as the side build towards the future.

The Dolphins have had one significant change between the last game and this one – Lance Klusener is no longer around.

The former Proteas star lost his position as coach and has been replaced in the interim by Yashin Ebrahim and Roger Telemachus.

Regular skipper Morne van Wyk is back from injury for the fourth-placed visitors.

Ebrahim said it would not be easy, despite the Warriors’ position on the table.

“The Warriors have built up momentum with their recent performances in 50-over cricket, so we’re expecting a tight affair,” Ebrahim said.

The Warriors team is: Colin Ackermann, Andrew Birch, Gihahn Cloete, Aya Gqamane, Simon Harmer (capt), Thandolwethu Mnyaka, Jerry Nqolo, Michael Price, Jon-Jon Smuts, Yaseen Vallie, Basheer Walters

THE top-of-the-table Titans will be hoping to hit the ground running when they welcome the high-flying Knights in Centurion.

The visitors won two of their three games in January – including beating their hosts in the reverse fixture – to move into the top three.

The Titans on the other hand drew and won their other fixture and now sit just over seven points ahead at the top.

The teams, along with the Highveld Lions, sit over 20 points clear on the top half of the log standings.

THE Lions and Cobras go into their match in Potchefstroom on the back of contrasting fortunes.

The men from Johannesburg can be forgiven for being in celebratory mode after beating their Cape rivals to the Momentum One-Day Cup title on Sunday.

But the partying has to be put on ice for the final six weeks of the season.