In-form Warriors opener Eddie Moore will get a chance to prove his white ball credentials when the Warriors play the Knights in a Momentum One-Day Cup fixture at Buffalo Park in East London on Friday (1.30pm).
Moore has been in fine form this season and is the leading scorer in the first-class, red ball game in the country with 1,500 runs scored mainly for the Warriors but also for Eastern Province.
The Warriors have played seven matches in the one-day competition and are second on the log behind the Titans but this will be Moore’s first opportunity in the shorter version this season.
Coach Rivash Gobind says the left-hander will add value at the top of the order.
“Eddie Moore, I think, can play for South Africa. I want guys to become Proteas and he's got all the ability and it's about me providing the opportunity and I'd like to do that for him,” Gobind said on Thursday.
“He's a young guy who's got a lot to give the region and he's in fantastic form. He's done everything a coach would ask of someone to go out there and make runs every week. He's been difficult to ignore, so I'm looking forward to him having a run out,” the Warriors mentor added.
The Warriors, after going unbeaten through their first five games, have lost back-to-back encounters against the Titans. The last match, in Benoni seven days ago, is one the Warriors would probably have won had it not been for an uncharacteristic over from the ever-reliable Andrew Birch which went for 25 runs.
“If you play that game 100 times, you win it 99 times. It was just one of those situations,” said Gobind.
“But there are a lot of lessons to be learnt as well about not taking things for granted and going through the same process and structure that we did for most of the game.”
Gobind says he is wanting a return to calm under pressure from his team on Friday.
“What was disappointing was that we always pride ourselves in being able to close out games and being clear in our thought-processes towards the back end. I thought we were a bit rushed in our thinking and that can happen at times.
“We spoke about it in the week and hopefully that was our one blip in the competition and it's gone now.”
The Knights have not won a match in this campaign in six attempts but they have the armoury to upset one of the sides and the Warriors will be hoping to dodge that bullet.
“If you look at their squad, it's pretty strong. You look at it and you think they should have won a game by now. So, it's going to be a tough challenge.
“All the games they have played in have been pretty tight. When we played them in Kimberley it was a tight game as well and we probably got out of jail in that one because of the way we bowled. We looking forward to a strong challenge and hopefully we can bounce back in East London.”
Left-arm unorthodox spinner Thomas Kaber has also been brought into the squad considering the way the Knights have played spin.