Titans aim to get off the mark in ODI Cup against Cobras
The Titans will be looking to get off the mark in the Momentum One Day Cup when they visit Cape Cobras on Friday afternoon at Newlands Stadium (2pm).
The Titans started their campaign with defeat to the Dolphins at home last week Friday in a match that coach Mark Boucher said they took more positives from than negatives.
“I thought we played good cricket for most of the game. There were stages where we could have closed the result but we had some dropped catches and also really bad overs.
"Those are the big moments we let ourselves down with but overall there were positives to take out of it‚” said former Proteas wicketkeeper Boucher.
“It’s always nice to play at Newlands‚ but it will not be easy. The Cobras had a good win in midweek‚ so we’ll need to be on top of our game‚” he added.
Meet South Africa's R87,3 million IPL men South Africa’s on-field contribution to the 2017 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) amounts to nine players in four of the eight franchises.
Going into this afternoon’s match‚ Cobras coach Ashwell Prince expressed relief following their midweek win over the Warriors and he want his charges to continue with that momentum.
“It was nice to get off the mark in the competition on Wednesday against the Cobras. Obviously that first game didn’t go according to plan against the Knights‚ so we needed to perform and we did. So‚ I am pleased that we have that win now behind us‚” Prince said.
“The Titans have always had a good team‚ so we’ll respect them. But our intention is to focus on our own strengths and not that of the opposition. So that’s what we’ll be looking to do.”
In the other match scheduled for Friday (2pm)‚ the Dolphins are at home to Highveld Lions in what promises to be an entertaining match up at Kingsmead in Durban.
“We never want to create a negative environment at the halfway stage of a game but from within the coaching staff‚ we weren’t happy with our ground fielding and wides.
"You are never going to restrict the amount of wides to nothing but I think anything under six is decent.
SA batsmen set responsibility as watchword for third New Zealand ODI Cricketers tend to snag their attention on particular words‚ which could just as easily have been spoken at a team meeting as over a beer.
"We want to be as close as possible to zero but that is a perfect goal‚” said Dolphins coach Grant Morgan.
Morgan has spinner Keshav Maharaj available but he has been left out with Seunran Muthusamy drafted in.
Visiting coach Geoffrey Toyana is also hoping for further improvement from his charges.
“We always back ourselves at home‚ so we are happy with the start we made in that first game. But there’s lot of work that lies ahead. Remember‚ it’s still early days in the competition‚” he said.
Wiaan Mulder is fit again for the Lions while they also have Stephen Cook and Temba Bavuma available before they depart for New Zealand to link up with the Proteas for the Test series against the Black Caps.
- TMG Digital/TMG Sport