Warriors aim to seal lead in log

THE log-leading Warriors will have it all to play for when they face the Dolphins in their final Sunfoil Series match of the season at Kingsmead in Durban from today.

The Warriors missed a golden chance to get one hand on the trophy when they fell eight runs short of beating the Knights in East London on Sunday.

That match was eventually drawn and some of the Warriors camp may still be wondering about what could have been.

But caretaker coach Rivash Gobind believes the team has moved on.

“Fortunately it didn’t hurt us and we’re back where we started last weekend, so we can’t be too upset about it,” he said.

A win for the Warriors (128.04 points) is likely to hand them the title, although they will still need to make sure they get more bonus points than the Cobras (127.02), Knights (124.32) and Titans (121.58) should they also win.

“I think we’re probably confident rather than nervous,” Gobind said.

“We know that we control our own destiny, so the ball is really in our court.

“Four-day cricket is such that you can’t just go out there and attack from the start.

“You have to play each session and you can’t win the game in that one session, but you certainly can lose it.

“So we have to be smart and stick to the plan and template that’s worked for us.

“We only need to win the game on day four in the final session, so there’s no rush.

“But there is excitement and we look forward to it.”

Former Hudson Park High batting star Sinethemba Qeshile, 18, has been drafted into the Warriors squad to replace Gionne Koopman.

The hosts are one of five sides still in with a chance of claiming the four-day prize, although they have the slimmest chance of all.

The KwaZulu-Natal franchise, who are fifth with 114.44 points, must win their match with plenty of bonus points against the Warriors and hope that the Cape Cobras in second suffer a heavy loss to the Highveld Lions. – Cricket South Africa