The Unlimited Titans are hoping they can piggy-back on the success of Northerns in the Africa T20 Cup and change their habit of starting slowly in the Momentum One-Day Cup when they host the Warriors at SuperSport Park tomorrow.
The Titans have lifted the one-day trophy for the past two seasons, but on both occasions they required a heroic late sprint to make it into the playoffs after starting the competition poorly.
Fortunately their bid to hit the ground running has been aided by the success of Northerns, who lifted the inaugural Africa T20 Cup last weekend after beating Kwazulu-Natal Inland in the final.
“Success at any level is important because it gives you momentum and confidence, and there were several guys playing in that tournament that will be playing on Friday night, so they will already have that to fall back on from a confidence point of view,” said Titans coach, Rob Walter.
Captain, Henry Davids, felt that Northerns’ success also pointed to a healthy depth within the franchise that could come in handy as the season develops, but admitted that starting competitions slowly has been a problem in the past.
“It’s one of the things that we want to change,” he said. “In the past two seasons we’ve played a lot of catch-up cricket. It shows that we can play under pressure which is a great trait to have.”
As they search for ways to break their long trophy drought, the Warriors have taken the long-term approach by recruiting a trio of young players whom they hope will mature over time.
Batsman Yaseen Vallie has joined from the Cape Cobras after spending a loan period with the Warriors last season, wicketkeeper-batsman Gihahn Cloete has switched from the Knights and South Africa Under-19 wicketkeeper-batsman Clyde Fortuin has also come on board.
“We’ve signed a few young promising players who wem feel will play key roles for the seasons to come,” said Malibongwe Maketa, who will be starting his first full season as coach.
“We understand we need to be a bit patient with them while they get used to the Eastern Cape conditions and settle into this team, but they’ve shown that they’re here to play and they want to be involved.”
The Warriors suffered a major blow this week when fast bowler Rusty Theron announced his retirement due to continuing knee problems.
Friday’s tournament opener begins at 2pm and will be broadcast live on SuperSport 7. - Cricket South Africa