Eric Simons says he's happy to take path less travelled to MLS final

13 December 2019 - 11:54 By KHANYISO TSHWAKU
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NMB Giants head coach Eric Simons acknowledged that the Tshwane Spartans are a very good team.
NMB Giants head coach Eric Simons acknowledged that the Tshwane Spartans are a very good team.
Image: Michael Sheehan/Gallo Images

While the “sold out” signs at Boland Park in Paarl have already gone up for Monday’s Mzansi Super League final, the Nelson Mandela Bay Giants and the Tshwane Spartans still have to play for the right to meet the Paarl Rocks.

Mandela Bay Giants coach Eric Simons reckons they should have been the hosts of the final if they didn’t let the Rocks get away with a narrow 12-run win on Sunday.

The eliminator, which will take place at St George’s Park on Friday evening, will determine who will face the Rocks.

Simons doesn’t mind taking the path less travelled, even though he acknowledged the fact that the Spartans have a very good team.

“We’re happy to be in this situation. It’s easy to look back and look at what we could have done differently or better,” Simons said. “We’re happy to be part of the knockouts, but we missed a trick on Sunday. We should have won, but now we have to do it the hard way.

“We bowled very well against them in Pretoria, where we had them in a difficult position before the rain intervened. They’re a strong side though, and any team that has AB de Villiers is strong.

“They have a number of match-winners who are quality players and they have a good bowling attack.”

Seasoned domestic batsman Heino Kuhn top-scored for the Giants in their unsuccessful chase with 58.

While he carries the disappointment of not seeing the game through for his team, he knows they could right the wrongs of Sunday.

Kuhn, who played for the Titans for the bulk of his domestic career, will be up against a number of his former teammates.

“It’s a great feeling to be scoring some runs. I started well, then had a couple of low ones, but it’s good to have a decent knock before the play-offs. I’ll take a lot of confidence from that.

“I was a bit disappointed in not getting the team over the line, but we’re in the play-offs now,” Kuhn said.

The Spartans could consider themselves lucky to be in the play-offs after half their league games were rained out. However, Heinrich Klaasen’s side has looked very good when they’ve won, but they’ve also tended to be very ordinary when they lose.

They still are a star-studded side who can’t be discounted on any day.

Klaasen said they’ve got a point to prove against Giants, but he hoped all their cricket departments come together in Port Elizabeth.

“There’s a couple of games where we’ve batted very well but I still think there’s much more to come. Hopefully, all three departments will come off on Friday and they step up,” Klaasen said.

“Their support has been fantastic. I enjoy playing in PE, but the Giants are one-and-a-half up on us. Hopefully we can get it back to one-all.”


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