Calm heads won Warriors the T20 title, says Peterson

When things looked like they might be falling apart, the Warriors senior leadership stood up to be counted as the Eastern Cape franchise won the Cricket SA T20 Challenge final in a sensational finish against Boland on Sunday.

This is the view of coach Robin Peterson, who praised the team for the character they showed in taking the title via a Super Over after they had blown their chances to win in regulation time when, needing one run to win, they failed to score off the last four balls of their 20 overs.

That resulted in a tie — Boland 142/6 and the Warriors 142/5.

Instead of celebrating, the Warriors suddenly found themselves staring at the unpredictable nature of a Super Over to decide the competition. But happily for them, they excelled to score 16/0 before limiting Boland to 6/1.

Despite the chaos of the situation, Peterson spoke about a sense of calm as they prepared for the finale.

“We had a quick brainstorm after the match was tied, and the guys were really calm about things, and the way Sen [Senuran Muthusamy] and Stubbo [Tristan Stubbs] spoke about what we needed to do just showed their experience,” he said.

“I really take my hat off to those guys because when they returned [from national duty], I knew we were getting good cricketers back with calm heads, but in that moment, along with captain Matt de Villiers, they really stood up for the team.

“It was just amazing to watch them speak on the plan of how to manage the Super Over.”

The bottom line, Peterson said, was to make sure they did not lose an early wicket while targeting a minimum of 10 runs.

Anything more would be a bonus, he said.

“Despite having almost won the game and then facing the possibility of losing it, it was just a case of focusing on the next task at hand and setting ourselves a number.

“Jordan [Hermann] and Stubbo [Stubbs] stayed with the plan, and they were outstanding.

“The way they played that Super Over was one of the better ones I have seen in being organised and calm throughout the six balls.”

Aphiwe said to me, ‘I’ve got this coach,’ and I told him before he went on that ‘whatever happens, we believe in you, and we know you have the tools to do the job, so just go out, enjoy it and keep communicating with your captain’.

—  Robin Peterson

Once they had achieved their target, the key decision was who would bowl the over for the Warriors.

“I had a discussion with Matt de Villiers and he told me that Aphiwe Mnyanda was his choice, and kudos to him for that decision.

“Aphiwe said to me, ‘I’ve got this coach,’ and I told him before he went on that ‘whatever happens, we believe in you, and we know you have the tools to do the job, so just go out, enjoy it and keep communicating with your captain’.”

Having players who were prepared to put their hands up in a pressure situation was a key ingredient in the team, Peterson said.

“That sort of attitude makes a massive difference and having a player from Gqeberha finish it off for us, along with locals like Stubbo and Sinethemba Qeshile, well, there were a lot of emotions afterwards.”

Peterson also mentioned Hermann for his outstanding knock of 74 off 53 balls, which played a decisive role in the Warriors matching their opponents’ total on a dry, dusty surface not suited to strokeplay.

“Jordan is such an important batter because he is talented and so dangerous,” he said.

“I told him before that if he can get through about 12 balls in his innings, he could dominate the attack.

“At the back of my mind, I knew he could make a difference, and he showed his big-match temperament by hitting the most important shot [a six] in the Super Over.

“And then there was the batting of Stubbo and Sen, whose calm heads saw them negotiate the run chase towards the end and to get us so close to victory.”

The Herald