Brilliant sunshine baked the St George’s Park outfield on Thursday and the Warriors felt the heat as they crashed to a nine-wicket defeat to the Highveld Lions in their opening 4-Day Franchise Series cricket match of the season.
Lions seamer Malusi Siboto took five wickets for 54 runs, ripping the heart out of the Warriors’ middle order on a day that witnessed a disappointing capitulation from the home side, bar two of their batsmen.
It did not help that the Warriors started the final day on the back foot with their second innings precariously placed at 42 for three and still 82 runs behind the Lions’ first innings effort of 470 for six.
It was hoped they would scrap it out and give the opposition a good fight but instead they stumbled to 182 all out.
That left the Lions needing 58 for a comfortable victory and they reached that target for the single loss of first innings hero Stephen Cook, caught at second slip by Sisanda Magala off Andrew Birch.
It was all over an hour after lunch.
It was a meek submission by the Warriors but there was a bright light for team management to enthuse over.
The performance of the SA U19 star Sinethemba Qeshile will have pleased them no end.
The stocky, right-handed batsman seems to be the real deal and has a certain look of class about him.
On Thursday, he followed up his impressive 58 in the first innings with a mature and unbeaten 69 made in the face of some telling pressure.
He was playing in only his second four-day franchise match and it was expected that the opposition would try to get under his skin bearing in mind the reputation he carries.
But the former Hudson Park schoolboy, who celebrated his 19th birthday on Tuesday, stood firm in the face of the verbal tirades he copped.
It was left-arm paceman Beuran Hendricks especially who attempted to get under his skin.
There was a barrage of short deliveries and plenty mouthing off from Hendricks but Qeshile paid little attention and merely focused on the job at hand.
He shared in a 75-run stand with Mo Vallie, who also deserves credit for his effort in making 52.
Qeshile is compact at the crease and has a good technique. His innings was littered with delightful strokes with his on- and off-drives being particularly impressive.
It is not difficult to see why numerous other franchises attempted to lure him away from the Eastern Cape.
The Warriors will now debrief after this game and examine where they went wrong.
Luckily, it is only the first match of the season and there is plenty of time to regroup and come back stronger for their next date, against defending champions the Titans in Centurion on October 12.