Cape Town – It's not only the Proteas who are welcoming back a stalwart this week, but the Cape Cobras too. Fresh from taking a week off for the birth of his first child Omphile Ramela is back at work and ready to take on the Titans at SuperSport Park in Centurion this weekend.
The former Cobras captain is a vital member of the batting unit at the top of the order and his experience will be vital against the defending champions.
Ramela will rejoin a rejuvenated Andrew Puttick, who is pushing towards the 11 000-run first-class landmark, at the expense of Boland batsman Simon Khomari. Former South African U-19 paceman Lizaad Williams also returns to the Cobras squad for his first franchise game of the season with new Proteas T20 cap Dane Paterson still on international duty.
Based on the respective log positions, with the Titans in second place and the Cobras rooted to the bottom, it seems the a foregone conclusion for the home side, but the visitors have shown refreshingly good form since the change of management structure down at Newlands at the end of last year.
The Cobras seem to be playing as a team once more and not a bunch of individuals and it has translated into success on the field in 2017. The Titans would be wary of this renewed spirit, especially as they try and regain the lead at the summit of the log which was lost to the Dolphins last weekend.
The Dolphins currently have 78.66 points in comparison to the Titans’ 70.76, although the latter have a game in hand.
The Hennops River side have a host of players on international duty still this week with Proteas T20 captain Farhaan Behardien, prolific batsman Heino Kuhn and promising new seamer Lungi Ngidi all involved in Wednesday’s T20 against Sri Lanka at Newlands. All-rounder Chris Morris will also be unavailable as he returns to the ODI squad after an injury-enforced absence.
However, such is the vast depth that the Titans have at their disposal, that the loss of the afore-mentioned quartet actually eases coach Mark Boucher’s selection woes. Proteas Test opening batsman Dean Elgar returns to franchise cricket immediately after being named Man of the Series in the recent series against Sri Lanka and will add a considerable amount of experience and quality to the Titans top order.
He will no doubt look to continue the prolific form he showed in the three-match series and also in Australia recently on a pitch that will most likely suit the batsmen. Among the other changes will see promising fast bowler Junior Dala come back into the line-up at the expense of Ngidi.
“I think one of our main assets is the strength in depth that we have in all departments,” said Titans captain Henry Davids. “We are a team who is well aware that our fate and destiny is in our own hands.
“If we win at least two of our three last games, we should be ok. But we want to be triumphant in all three of our clashes. We are not going to depend on other teams to do us favours,” the skipper emphasized.