Heavy schedule for Warriors

Getting off to a winning start will be key for the Warriors, heading into a week which sees them play four games in just over a week, caretaker coach Rivash Gobind said.

Speaking ahead of his team’s Momentum One Day Cup clash against the Hollywoodbets Dolphins at St George’s Park today, Gobind said the team was looking forward to their first home match of the new year.

Gobind said his team were playing exciting cricket, and expected more of the same when they play in front of the cricket-loving Bay crowd.

Sitting in third position after two games played, the Warriors won their opening match by six wickets against the Bizhub Highveld Lions before slumping to a 67-run defeat to the World Sports Betting Cape Cobras a few days later.

“Once we put a few wins together, we can gain some momentum in the competition.

“With four matches coming in such a short time, if we can win [most] of them, it would put us in a great position going into the last half [of the competition],” Gobind said.

With EP and Warriors star Matthew Breetzke being selected for the South African U19 squad, leaving a space in the batting lineup, Gobind said there were replacement options being looked at, but a decision was yet to be made.

“Matthew is an exciting prospect for us, that’s why we felt he is good enough to perform at franchise level.

“We wish him and the team all the best for the tournament,” he said.

Speaking about experienced players like fast bowler Sisanda Magala and explosive batsman Christiaan Jonker’s exploits in the competition so far, Gobind said they were important members of the squad.

He hoped they would continue to put in good performances with bat and ball.

Gobind remains wary of the threat posed by the Durban outfit, saying: “They have a number of X-factor players who can single-handedly win games.”

Simon Harmer was the only addition to the squad, Gobind said.

Captain Jon-Jon Smuts said the team was excited to be back in action after a short Christmas break.

Speaking of the switch from 20-over cricket to the 50-over format, Smuts said: “Obviously your tactics will change, but our mindset is to put in match-winning performances as individuals for the team.

“We always say, if it’s our day, we need to make it count for the team.

“So far we have done that in the first game, but came up short in the second, so we will be looking to rectify that against the Dolphins,” he said.

Smuts said St George’s Park was traditionally a “bat first” wicket and felt the toss would not really affect the game much. “We have to do the basics well. “This is a tough format and you have to play well as a unit,” Smuts said.

After their clash today, the team head into a busy week, taking on the Multiply Titans (January 7) in Benoni and the VKB Knights (January 9) in Bloemfontein before their match against the bizhub Highveld Lions (January 11) in East London. Squad for tomorrow’s clash: Colin Ackermann, Andrew Birch, Clayton Bosch, Gihahn Cloete, Rivash Gobind (coach), Ayabulela Gqamane, Simon Harmer, Christiaan Jonker, Sisanda Magala, Marco Marais, Lesiba Ngoepe, JonJon Smuts (captain) and Yaseen Vallie.