EP hungry for glory

Eastern Province will be looking to make it a repeat of 2016 when they get their Africa Cup T20 campaign under way against Namibia at Buffalo Park on Friday.

Two years ago, it was EP who emerged victorious at the end of the second edition of the Africa Cup T20 and they are hungry for that success once again.

“It is always the goal to try and win. We obviously have a slightly different side from when we won,” EP coach Piet Botha said.

“So it is a new challenge for us, a new pool and new ground, so we’re very excited to play and happy to see good weather in East London.

“It is a very good T20 field here in East London. It is a very good wicket, a nice-size field and history has proven that T20 and one-day games have been very good here as the wicket gives batters and bowlers a chance.

“I think it is one of the better T20 places to play in the country and the guys are looking forward to it.”

EP will be in action twice on Friday, against Namibia in the morning and Mpumalanga in the afternoon, before taking on Kenya on Saturday morning and ending off against Border on Sunday afternoon.

EP will know Namibia and Border well from playing them in provincial competitions.

But Kenya and Mpumalanga, new additions to the expanded tournament this year, have an element of the unknown about them.

“They [Namibia] are a very experienced team, in terms of white ball cricket in particular as they play all over the world, so I think they are going to be a stiff challenge but obviously we know what to expect,” he said.

“With Mpumalanga and Kenya it adds a challenge in that we don’t really know them.

“We have gone through their teams, we don’t know a lot about their players, but at the end of the day we must execute our own things.”

EP v Namibia gets under way at 9.30am and EP v Mpumalanga starts at 1.30pm, with both matches at Buffalo Park.