Boucher’s on a weather watch

COACH: IT’S FRUSTRATING BUT WE CAN’T CONTROL THAT

t will amaze many considering the quality of cricket they have played, but the Titans go into their CSA T20 Challenge derby against the Highveld Lions at the Wanderers todau trailing their opponents by two points and are a full eight points behind leaders Cape Cobras, whom they beat with a bonus point.

That’s almost entirely thanks to the autumn rains that have washed out two of their games and gave the Warriors a victory against the Titans when they were chasing a record score.

So it’s not surprising that Titans coach Mark Boucher is more concerned with the weather than his team’s form or the continued absence of ace spinner Tabraiz Shamsi with a lower back niggle.

“We still feel like the team to beat even though we have nothing to show for it. The rain helped the Warriors, we beat the leaders with a bonus point and in Kimberley we were in a very good position. We’ve played some very good cricket, so it’s been frustrating but the weather is something we can’t control. But we can control our preparation.

“We hope the weather stays good, we have a young and enthusiastic team and where historically we’ve tended to get our semifinal place early, this tournament is different because of all the game time we’ve lost and we might have to really scrap for our place. But we’re certainly up for it and our game plans have been good up till now when we’ve been tested,” Boucher said yesterday.

The Lions will also be missing a key bowler in left-arm paceman Beuran Hendricks, who has picked up a side-strain just as his name has begun to be mentioned as a serious contender for the Proteas World Cup squad to be announced at lunchtime today, given the variety he can bring to the attack.

While the Lions’ pair of leftarm spinners, Bjorn Fortuin and Aaron Phangiso, have both been outstanding in taking wickets and keeping the batsmen quiet, their pacemen have not been economic enough and Hendricks, Wiaan Mulder, Nono Pongolo, Malusi Siboto and Dwaine Pretorius have all gone for more than eight runs an over. That will be a concern against a powerful Titans batting line-up.

“The bowlers know that in this format they will travel, but it’s important they don’t get emotional and just accept that things aren’t always going to go their way. They need to find ways to get back into the game and even though we are still finding our way of playing T20 as a team, we’re still getting into winning positions. It’s falling into place and the guys are playing good cricket.

“Temba Bavuma’s leadership has also been massive for us and we all feel we can keep getting better and lift our game to new levels,” Lions coach Enoch Nkwe told