No rush to put Ngidi into action against Warriors
Titans keen to ensure fast bowler has time to recover fully from injury
EMERGING Proteas fast bowler Lungi Ngidi will be in contention for selection when the Titans host the Warriors in their Momentum One Day Cup clash at Benoni’s Willowmoore Park tomorrow. Ngidi has been sidelined by an abdominal muscle injury he sustained during the third T20 against Sri Lanka in Cape Town in January, which resulted in his missing the ongoing ODI series against New Zealand.
“He is back training, but a decision as to whether he will play against the Warriors [tomorrow] will be taken at a later stage after consultation with the medical staff,” Titans assistant coach Mandla Mashimbyi said yesterday.
“We don’t want to put him under pressure to return to competitive cricket and cause more harm.
“We will be directed by our medical staff as to when he is ready to return to play cricket again.”
Titans host the Warriors on the back of two successive bonus-point victories against the Cobras and the Lions‚ wins that propelled them to the top of the standings.
But Mashimbyi said they had forgotten about those victories.
“We don’t want to dwell too much on what has happened because the campaign is still long and our focus is on the coming matches‚” he said.
“We are focused on the coming matches where we have to do well to ensure that we are up there in the closing stages of the competition.”
Tomorrow’s match will be the first for the Titans in Benoni this year in this competition and Mashimbyi said they were expecting similar conditions to Centurion’s SuperSport Park, where they played their opening two home matches.
“Obviously, the atmosphere is not the same as SuperSport Park, but we are going there with the mission of getting a win.
“There won’t be too much difference in terms of the pitch conditions.
“What is important for us is to produce the skills and determination that we have been showing in the past games‚” he said.