Boje won’t take Cobras’ ‘dangerous individuals’ lightly at the Bullring

KNIGHTS coach Nicky Boje has warned that the out-of-form Cape Cobras cannot be taken for granted when the two sides meet in the T20 Challenge opener at the Wanderers today (1.30pm start).

The clash is the first of a doubleheader outing at the Highveld venue, which marks the start of this season’s domestic 20-over competition.

The two teams have been in contrasting form this term, with the Cape side failing to win any of their five Sunfoil Series matches, which have included three losses.

On the other hand, the men from Bloemfontein were unbeaten in their first four matches of the season, until they suffered a first loss last weekend. But two wins from their five games have put them second on the Sunfoil Series table, compared to last for the Cobras.

Not much can be read into that, according to Boje. “They’ve got some dangerous individuals in their side and you can in no way take them lightly,” he said. “But as always, we’ll focus on what we need to do and make sure we do those things right.”

The Knights are bolstered this season by the addition of Proteas limited-overs specialist David Miller to their squad and Boje is delighted to have him.

“It’s a serious plus point,” the coach added. “He’s an unbelievable T20 player and hits the ball a long way. So it will be exciting to see him doing that.”

The Knights are also bolstered by the likes of Patrick Kruger and Diego Rosier, who did so well for Northern Cape as they ended runners-up in the Africa T20 Cup earlier this season.

Meanwhile, Cobras coach Paul Adams is hoping a change of format will bring with it a change of fortune for his team. “We’re hoping for that (a new competition will bring better results),” he explained. “But T20 cricket is so unpredictable and the game can easily go either way.

“But we want to be competing and be playing a good aggressive brand of cricket. But I think we’re ready to go, there’s a lot of excitement from the boys wanting to go out and enjoy the game.

“It’s a new competition and for our boys it’s important we begin on the right foot. We’ve done well in 20-over cricket in the past and we’d like to maintain that record of ours.”

The Cobras’ marquee signing is once again West Indies T20 star Kieron Pollard, who will be available for the entire competition.

“He’s available and will bring a lot to the table for us,” Adams added. “We’re looking forward to having him.” Squads Knights: Tumelo Bodibe, Patrick Botha, Theunis de Bruyn (captain), Marchant de Lange, Dillon Du Preez, Patrick Kruger, David Miller, Tshepo Ntuli, Diego Rosier, Rudi Second, Luthando Mnyanda, Lwandiswa Zuma, Shadley van Schalkwyk. Cobras: Andrew Puttick, Aviwe Mgijima, Beuran Hendricks, Dane Paterson, Dane Piedt, George Linde, Jason Smith, Kieron Pollard, Justin Ontong, Keegan Petersen, Lizaad Williams, Omphile Ramela, Richard Levi, Rory Kleinveldt, Stiaan van Zyl, Tshepo Moreki, Zubayr Hamza