Warriors wary of Knights threat
The Warriors will chase top spot on the standings when they face the Knights in a Momentum One-Day Cup cricket match in Kimberley on Friday.
The Eastern Cape franchise are in second position, two points behind the Dolphins, who are away to the Cape Cobras in Paarl, also on Friday.
The Warriors will go top if they win and the Dolphins lose but Rivash Gobind is aware of the threat the Knights pose and is not looking too far ahead.
The home team lost a close game to the Cobras on Tuesday night and will be keen to notch up their first win in what will be their fourth match.
Gobind knows they are a better side than what their log position of sixth suggests.
“I always say in franchise cricket there is no easy game. You look at their squad and the quality they’ve got,” he said.
“They have a lot of experience in Marchant de Lange and Keegan Petersen has been playing beautifully the whole summer. Andries Gous has made runs against us in the past.
“Ryan McLaren has a lot of experience so it’s not a team that you take lightly.
“We are playing very well ourselves so we are looking forward to the challenge.
“The conditions in Kimberley generally suit our style of play as well.
“I think our record there has been pretty decent.”
The Warriors have played only two games.
“They beat the Cobras in their opening game on February 8 thanks to a fine century by Gihahn Cloete but then their fixture against the Lions was abandoned on Wednesday last week.
So it has been almost two weeks since they have played a full game of cricket.
“It’s been a little bit stopstart,” Gobind said.
“We did try to get out in Johannesburg and we started pretty nicely there but it was a pity about the weather.
“We are getting into the meat of the competition now. We are looking forward to it.”
Gobind is confident about what his bowlers have to offer as Anrich Nortje returns to spearhead the talented lineup.
“I’m pretty excited about our bowling attack,” he said.
“It’s a proper attack now and teams are going to take us very seriously with that.
“Anrich was probably two weeks ahead of schedule in terms of a return date.
“I’m sure the medical staff are sleeping a lot easier now that he’s only going to get into action now. He’s raring to go and so are the rest of them.”
The 36-year-old coach also praised the effort from his batsmen.
“Gihahn played beautifully in the first game and hopefully he can continue that now.
“He’s really maturing into someone we can bank on.
“I thought the way Sinethemba Qeshile handled the situation in that first game, for a guy making his debut, I mean he had ice in his veins.
“I spoke to him about it the next day and asked him: ‘Do you get nervous?’ He said: ‘Actually, no I don’t’.
“So it’s a fantastic temperament for a young guy.
“I saw like a young MS Dhoni or Lance Klusener sort of approach to the back end of the innings.
“There are lessons he can learn from that situation, but he handled himself brilliantly for the first time out.”
Colin Ackermann, who has almost fully recovered from injury, will be available for selection for the Warriors’ next game, against the Dolphins in Durban on Tuesday.