Bring on Knights, ‘The Finisher’ says after spectacular innings
THE annual opening of the season came around a bit earlier than usual as Christiaan Jonker delivered his own timely fireworks display for the Warriors at St George’s Park on Friday evening.
In a breathtaking show of power hitting, the right-hander plundered five sixes and three fours off the Highveld Lions’ bowling attack, while rattling up 49 not out in just 18 balls.
His swashbuckling effort resulted in the Warriors making light work of a stiff target of 153 as they romped home by six wickets with a remarkable 13 balls to spare.
“It was an awesome game,” Jonker said yesterday.
“Obviously, I didn’t expect that things would happen that way but I’m glad they did. It is good for the team and it builds confidence.”
He was, of course, being modest. He did almost exactly the same thing against the Knights in the previous game when he belted an unbeaten 48 off 27 balls in Bloemfontein.
“I just backed myself and decided that any ball in my area I would take a chance with and we were behind the eight-ball a bit.
“I like that kind of situation. I like playing under pressure. I think I perform better under pressure.
“But that’s my job and that’s what the coaching staff expects of me. If I can do my job, it’s a win-win situation for the team.”
As the middle-order “bully” got into his stride, the band played louder and louder and the crowd started chanting his name as the bewildered bowlers were running in.
His exploits in boundary-hitting under pressure and coming up trumps from almost impossible positions have earned him the nickname of “The Finisher”.
“That’s being going around for the last few years. Obviously, I like it being out there. It’s a good name. I like it, or maybe even ‘The Punisher’,” he joked.
“But I don’t really want to be boxed into being a certain category of player. I’d like to keep my options open for four-day cricket as well.”
The Warriors are in second position on the log, 10 points behind the Titans but with two games in hand. They next play the Knights at St George’s Park on Wednesday, starting at 6pm.
“Wednesday against the Knights is a new game and a new week and we take it one game at a time.
“Hopefully, if we can win that one and the Titans perhaps lose, the gap on the points standing will become smaller,” Jonker said.
Warriors’ captain Jon-Jon Smuts was full of praise for Jonker and has also referred to the St George’s Park crowd as the team’s 12th man.
He said the team wanted to play the kind of exciting cricket that the fans enjoyed watching.
“It’s great that Jonkie is in such good form. We know exactly what he is capable of and that helps us when it comes to planning the timing of our run chases,” Smuts said.
“We hope to see even more of the team’s fans here on Wednesday.”