Warriors itching to tackle Knights

THE Warriors will be pleased in the knowledge they will be welcomed by a more favourable weather forecast when they face the Knights in their Ram Slam T20 Challenge cricket fixture in Bloemfontein tonight (6pm).

Rained out without a ball being bowled in Durban on Wednesday night, the Eastern Cape franchise will look to take out their frustration on the Knights this evening.

“It was frustrating, yes,” Maketa said yesterday.

“We needed to get on the field and play for maximum points. But we will have another chance against the Knights tonight.”

The forecast says zero rain for Bloemfontein tonight and the Warriors will be up for the game after the Knights beat them at St George’s Park in the opening game of the tournament in Port Elizabeth two weeks ago.

Their batting was a problem in that game as it was against the Titans in East London in their second fixture, which they also lost.

The bright side of Wednesday’s washout is that the two points gleaned from that fixture have lifted them off the foot of the table into fifth place above the Cobras. They will now look to climb higher as they pursue a spot in the semifinals.

With seven group matches remaining, there are still enough points to play for, but Maketa knows his team need to start winning soon if they are to advance to the playoff stages next month. The Warriors squad: Colin Ackermann, Andrew Birch, Gihahn Cloete, Colin Ingram, Christiaan Jonker, Sisanda Magala, Lesiba Ngoepe, Anrich Nortje, Jerry Nqolo, Solo Nqweni, Jon-Jon Smuts (c), Kelly Smuts, Yaseen Vallie, Basheer Walters. Remaining Warriors fixtures: Tonight: 6pm, Knights v Warriors (Bloemfontein) Sunday: noon, Warriors v Lions (Cape Town) Wednesday: 6pm, Cobras v Warriors (Paarl) December 1: 6pm, Titans v Warriors (Benoni) December 3: 4pm, Warriors v Dolphins (PE) December 8: 6pm, Lions v Warriors (Potch) December 10: 2.30pm, Warriors v Cobras (EL).