Warriors will be fired up for T20 semifinal: Jordan Hermann

Knockout cricket can be unpredictable but Warriors batter Jordan Hermann believes they will need to be at their best to overcome the Dolphins in the second CSA T20 Challenge semifinal in Durban this week.

Having spent most of the season at the top of the table after eight consecutive wins, four losses in their past five matches saw them slip out of the top two which means they will not host a home semifinal.

Their latest defeat came in another disappointing performance, this time against the Dolphins in Gqeberha on Sunday, which saw the KwaZulu-Natal side leapfrog the Warriors into second place, earning them the home semifinal on Thursday (6pm). 

Wednesday's semi is between the table-topping Lions and Titans at the Wanderers (6pm).

The 2024 domestic T20 competition has been nothing short of a rollercoaster ride for the men from Gqeberha.

They started the competition like a house on fire to put themselves in prime position to earn a playoff spot at Dafabet St George’s Park.

However, matters went pear-shaped after a 12-run defeat to the Momentum Multiply Titans in round nine.

They took their win tally to nine with a 31-run victory over the now-relegated AET Tuskers but a four-game losing run, against the Rocks, Lions, North West Dragons and Dolphins cost them dearly.

In Sunday’s encounter Daryn Dupavillon made light work of the Warriors batters on a bowler-friendly pitch, grabbing career-best figures of 5/20 from four overs, dismantling the hosts’ batting order as Hermann’s 65 helped his side to 130 for eight.

In reply, the visitors lost just three wickets on their way to a seven-wicket victory as Jon-Jon Smuts (43) and Jason Smith (41) remained unbeaten to reach the 131-run winning target with 16 balls to spare.

“A game of cricket doesn’t always go your way. Hopefully this was a wake-up call for the boys,” Hermann said after the match.

“I am hoping we can play good cricket in the next game with the chance of winning the tournament only two games away.”

The left-handed batter said conditions did not play too much of a role in the defeat.

“It was more situational, conditions weren’t terrible. We probably got a few more good balls than expected, made a few bad decisions in shot-making which put us under pressure and we had to scrap from there.

“It’s always a hard task being behind the eight ball and having to scrap from there. Perhaps one good partnership would have got us to a more competitive score and then we would have been able to put them [Dolphins] under pressure with the bat.

“In terms of the bowling unit, we as batters haven’t given them a lot to defend but they have responded well to the pressure we put on them in these low-scoring games,” he said.

Hermann believes despite the negative run of form leading into the past four encounters, the players will be up for an almighty battle at Kingsmead.

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