‘One game at a time’ for Cobras

CAPE COBRAS coach Ashwell Prince insists his team will take it one game at a time in their pursuit of the Four-Day Franchise Series title ahead of their clash against the Warriors at Newlands starting today.

The hosts have put themselves in pole position for the first-class title after five wins from seven games this season.

And, with just three matches remaining in the 2018-19 season, they lead the second-placed Highveld Lions by nearly 20 points.

The margin is even greater from the rest of the pack with their round eight opponents the Warriors next on the list, over 45 points behind on 94.60 compared to the Cobras’ 140.04 points, but Prince is not prepared to put the cart before the horse.

“A win is 16 points, a loss is 10 points, so the 19-and-a-half-point lead we have can be turned around pretty quickly if things don’t go the right way,” he said. “It’s one game at a time.

“We have to approach every game the same way, starting from nought for nought and build our way into the game, whether it’s batting or bowling, and in time wrestle our way into a position of advantage in a game. “That’s going to be the same for all three games.”

The Lions did gain some ground on the Cobras in the previous round when they won their game and the Cobras were held to their first draw of the season away at the Knights.

Prince was satisfied with the way his team played in Bloemfontein. “At the end of the day we have to be happy with the result,” he said. “It wasn’t a great pitch in terms of trying to get the result, it reminded me of last season a bit where the bat dominated the ball easily.

“So as far as that’s concerned, we just have to take our batting points and bowling points and move on.”

His approach for the Warriors remains taking it “one day at a time” in the Mother City and he may again have to go about proceedings without opening batsman Janneman Malan, with Zubayr Hamza also not available.

The former faces a late fitness test on a finger injury, while the latter was selected to play for the Proteas against Pakistan in the third Test.

Warriors coach Rivash Gobind, meanwhile, has confirmed that Sisanda Magala and Lutho Sipamla are in contention again after their recent injuries.