Piedt: We must be less frantic

EVERYONE must just take a deep breath and calm down, says Cape Cobras captain Dane Piedt.

The Cobras opened their OneDay Cup campaign with a 100-run defeat to the Knights in Bloemfontein on Saturday.

It was the Western Cape side’s first defeat under Piedt and new coach Ashwell Prince’s leadership, since they took over at the beginning of 2017.

There is an opportunity to start over against the Warriors at Buffalo Park in East London today. It is the first of three games the Cobras will play in the course of five days with a home game following against the Titans at Newlands on Friday before a trip to Pietermaritzburg to face the Dolphins on Sunday.

A second consecutive defeat could send the Cobras into a downward spiral with backto-back games on the horizon, but in reverse a change in fortunes could lead to a build-up in momentum for the games ahead.

For the latter to happen the Cobras batting order needs to take a great deal more responsibility than they did at the Mangaung Oval.

Openers Richard Levi and Omphile Ramela started like they wanted to chase the Knights’ 308 in 20 overs instead of pacing their innings like Theunis de Bruyn did for the home side, during his 132 off 117 balls.

“I think we must be less frantic, buckle up and the top six must accept that other teams will come hard at them. The Cobras can score 300 quite easily, but we had too many mediocre scores,” Piedt said. “We need to rectify this situation in our second match.”

The Cobras opted for a dual-spin attack against the Knights with left-arm spinner George Linde joining Piedt in the line-up. It did not have the desired effect and Proteas Test seamer Vernon Philander can expect to have his first outing since injuring his ankle after the series against Sri Lanka at the end of last month.

There is talk surrounding Philander’s possible return to the Proteas ODI squad for the ICC Champions Trophy in June, but he is focusing squarely on doing well for the Cobras.

“Of course I’d like to play in the ICC Champions Trophy,” Philander said. “But I am not focusing on the wickets column and on how many wickets I take. It is about the team (Cobras) and getting them to a positive result.”