Cape Town — Western Province will need to do some soul searching if they are to revive their fortunes in the CSA Division 1 T20 Challenge.
Province have been way off their mark in their opening two matches after slumping to another heavy nine-wicket defeat against the Knights on Thursday.
Salieg Nackerdien’s team is missing a host of experienced batters in the injured Jonathan Bird and David Bedingham and the suspended Zubayr Hamza. Aviwe Mgijima was also ruled out on the eve of the tournament in Potchefstroom.
This has forced WP to field a trio of rookies in Daniel Smith, 20, Abdallah Bayoumy, 18, and Ethan Cunnigham, 19, along with 22-year-old Mihlali Mpongwana.
Thus far only Smith has contributed with the bat, adding another 31 to his 25 in the previous match. However, Smith is much more suited to the longer formats of the game with his runs coming at a strike rate of only 100.
While a much greater tempo is required at senior provincial level, it is much more than Cunnigham and Bayoumy have offered thus far. Both are exceptionally talented young cricketers, but they have not yet shown what they are capable of as yet.
This is partly due to the fact Province’s senior batters have not shouldered any form of responsibility in helping to alleviate the pressure.
Province captain Tony de Zorzi (30 runs in two games) has struggled to convert promising starts, while Kyle Verreynne (35 runs in two games) and George Linde (44 runs in two games) have also not fired in tandem as yet.
A shake-up is required with the more experienced Gavin Kaplan possibly being drafted into the starting XI, but more importantly they need to get the order of the batting line-up right.
Mpongwana is a promising all-round cricketer but he simply cannot walk to the crease at No 5. The lanky University of the Western Cape product currently averages 2.50 in T20 domestic cricket and would serve the team much better batting lower down the order – as he did in last season’s 1-Day Cup where he had a measure of success.
Province don’t have much time to get their house in order, though, as the all-powerful Titans team lay in wait on Friday.
The Knights, meanwhile, will be feeling much better now that they have got their campaign under way after their opening match against the Warriors was abandoned due to rain.
Pace spearhead Gerald Coetzee was impressive with the ball as he claimed career-best figures of 4-22, while skipper Aubrey Swanepoel chipped in with 3-24. That helped skittle Province for 116.
Gihahn Cloete then ensured there would be no hiccups in the run chase with a boundary-laden 68 not out off 42 balls, while Raynard van Tonder also contributed an unbeaten 33.
IOL Sport