Warriors go on the offensive
Coach hints at more selection surprises after crucial away success in Kimberley
THERE could be one or two more selection surprises when the Warriors square off against the Highveld Lions in their Momentum One-Day Cup cricket clash at Buffalo Park in East London today (1.30pm). Warriors caretaker coach Rivash Gobind’s modus operandi is not only to reward form, but also to pick players he thinks will perform under certain conditions.
He went out on a limb in Tuesday night’s game and promoted in-form batsmen Marco Marais (Border) and Clyde Fortuin (EP). Both featured strongly with the bat in the Warriors’ crushing 60-run win over the Knights in Kimberley.
“I am a big believer in picking guys for conditions and horses for courses,” Gobind said yesterday.
“Being in East London, there are a few guys from Border in our squad who know the ground and the conditions really well.”
The Warriors players will do well not to become too comfortable with their positions in the starting lineup. As we have seen, Gobind is not afraid to mix things up in trying to catch the opposition unawares.
“I’m trying to keep it fresh and interesting,” he said.
“The way we play and set up as a squad we have got to be tactically ahead of the other teams and throw them a curveball every now and then.
“We have a good core of senior guys with some good ideas and we try to tap into all of that.
“Sometimes it’s a bit left field like in Marco’s case. [The Knights] didn’t really expect him to play, but on his third ball he hit Marchant [de Lange] out of the ground. That’s a great statement for the guy to make and I’m really excited about his demeanour and calmness and I think he is going to add tremendous value to the franchise going forward.”
Another player who could come into the reckoning under home conditions tonight is allrounder Jerry Nqolo, who knows Buffalo Park intimately.
After tonight, the Warriors play another fixture in East London against the Titans on Sunday and Nqolo’s backyard expertise would come in handy.
The Warriors now have two wins from their five games, which is enough to have them placed in the playoff positions at the moment with five roundrobin matches to go.
Gobind was thrilled with the manner in which the Warriors disposed of the Knights’ threat as a unit on Tuesday. He also spoke of how opener Gihahn Cloete had backed his 82 in the previous game with 143 against the Knights.
“It was a good effort from the boys and Gihahn backed it up which was nice.
“We just need to get another win so we get a bit of momentum and it’s good that we have games coming quickly now because that also helps.
“We had some simple plans which we actually pulled off very well.
“We held our nerve very well at crucial moments which was very good to see.
“Everyone who bowled took a wicket and [Sisanda] Magala and Aya [Gqamane] this season so far have been really good.
“They have been very consistent which is something they have been striving for and I’m really happy to see them get a little bit of success. Obviously, there is room for improvement but I’m very happy with them as well.”
Gobind said his team would be chasing another fast start against the Lions today after beating them in the first round of the competition.