Warriors need to snap their losing streak

The Warriors will rely on depth in reserve as they push to qualify for the Momentum OneDay Cup playoffs in their last two pool games.

The Eastern Cape franchise play their penultimate roundrobin match against the Dolphins at St George’s Park in Port Elizabeth on Wednesday (1.30pm).

The good news is rising star Sinethemba Qeshile is available for this game but the not so good news, from a Warriors point of view, is fast bowler Lutho Sipamla joined the Proteas a game early as cover for Lungi Ngidi this week.

Both Qeshile and Sipamla will miss the final group game against the Dolphins in Port Elizabeth on Saturday as they will be in action for the Proteas in Centurion on the same day.

Promising allrounder Onke Nyaku gets another chance to prove his worth on Wednesday while left-arm spinner Jade de Klerk has been promoted to the squad for the first time.

“Obviously, it’s very nice for guys to get call-ups to the national team,” Warriors coach Rivash Gobind said.

“We spoke about it quite early on in the season and that it would be part of our goal.

“The guys who are going to come in are ready to perform and now I’m looking forward to seeing what they can do.

“Onke Nyaku is already in our squad, so he will probably play and we’ve slotted in Jade de Klerk from EP and SA U19 to give us another option.”

The Eastern Cape franchise needs to snap a losing streak that has seen them lose their last three matches.

They did so well in the initial stages of the tournament that they still find themselves in second place and in contention for a playoff spot.

But, apart from the Titans in top spot, the remainder of the table has become tight and there will be no room for error.

Gobind said the team went too hard with the bat up front in their most recent loss to the Knights in East London.

“We over-assessed what we needed. I think if we had got around 200-220 it would have gone a long way to being in the game,” he said.

“It’s something we’ve spoken about, but with a little bit of an inexperienced batting lineup that can happen.

“We’re going to put it down as our one bad game for the competition and hopefully we can bounce back now.”

Gobind said there was no reason why the Warriors could not beat both the Dolphins on Wednesday and the Cobras on Saturday.

“They’re both at home, so we’re in comfortable conditions and we know the surroundings. I mean, there should be no issues now.”