Bowlers to hold sway in derby?
BOUCHER: TITANS COACH ADDS TWO SEAMERS TO MIX
Ken Borland
The Gauteng derby between the Highveld Lions and the Titans starts in Potchefstroom today, a venue at which the value of accurate bowling is usually magnified.
And the Lions will go into the Four-Day Domestic Series match with their confidence high, after their attack skittled the Knights for just 89 in only 22.3 overs to claim a remarkable innings-and22-run win at the Wanderers last week.
At the same time, the Titans attack were spraying the ball all over the place on a far more sporting pitch in Centurion as the Cape Cobras were able to score 337 and 204/2, scoring at a rate of 4.68 runs per over through the match, to secure a comfortable win.
For that reason, Titans coach Mark Boucher has added seam bowlers Ryan Cartwright, Matthew Arnold and Clayton August to his squad, while also naming a new wicketkeeper/batsman in Sizwe Masondo, the 31-year-old former Lions player.
“We’ve decided to leave out Rivaldo Moonsamy and Junior Dala and give ourselves more options for the bowling. There are a couple of guys who have done well for Easterns and maybe a bit of pressure on the guys is not a bad thing, competition for places is always good, maybe it’s time to shake things up a bit. It also sends a good message to the provincial players about what happens if you perform.
“Obviously the attack did not perform against the Cobras, we haven’t bowled as well as we would have liked in all three fourday matches. So our attack is under pressure and hopefully they can take 20 wickets in Potchefstroom, where it’s normally quite a good, flat pitch, but it depends on the weather,” Boucher told The Citizen.
Lions coach Enoch Nkwe has no such worries.
“The bowling unit took a while to hit their straps, but the moment they found their lines and lengths they were able to penetrate and it was good to see. Potch is always a good pitch and it will test both teams because there are such small margins of error for the bowlers. We have to make sure our bowling unit creates opportunities and is then able to pounce,” Nkwe said.
The frustrated Knights now travel to Port Elizabeth to take on the Warriors in what should be a rip-roaring contest between the teams that are third and fourth in the standings.
The rampant Cape Cobras host the Dolphins at Newlands, with the visitors needing to regroup after their own frustrating collapse against the Warriors last week, being bundled out for just 123 on the final day as they lost by 93 runs.