Natal hope to end the trend of losing at home
That was coach Phil Russell's rallying call Thursday on the eve of Friday's crunch Standard Bank Cup match at Kingsmead in which Natal aim to end a period of Gauteng dominance that has seen them destroy all their opposition since the new year
Ken Borland
03-Mar-2000
"Our semifinal hopes are back in our own hands now and the boys
must put an end to the trend of losing at home."
That was coach Phil Russell's rallying call Thursday on the eve
of Friday's crunch Standard Bank Cup match at Kingsmead in which
Natal aim to end a period of Gauteng dominance that has seen them
destroy all their opposition since the new year.
With Eastern Province losing to Griqualand West on Wednesday
night, Natal would be in with a very good chance of reaching the
semi-finals if they beat Gauteng, who are top of the log after a
record eight successive victories. But Natal's home form has been
very poor of late, the bowlers digging up their loosest stuff for
the loss to Easterns a fornight ago and the batsmen saving one of
their collapses for last weekend's defeat by Border. But Russell
believes his team will not be low on confidence Friday,
especially since their semi-final hopes are now at stake going
into the final weekend of round-robin play. "On paper we have a
more experienced side than they do and we've just got to hope we
produce the goods."
Certainly, Natal have players of true class in middle-order stars
Andrew Hudson and Jonty Rhodes, while opener Doug Watson has
often reserved his best for high-tension day/night matches. His
fellow SA A opener Mark Bruyns, the in-form Errol Stewart and the
rapidly maturing Jon Kent complete a very strong Natal batting
line-up.
A run of eight successive wins in limited-overs cricket is
miraculous and the law of averages is firmly on the side of Natal
on Friday, but their bowlers will need to be at their tightest
and not allow the likes of Ken Rutherford, Andrew Hall and Nic
Pothas any leeway.
Defeat Friday will have the depressing consequence of leaving
Natal's fate in other hands and turning Sunday's tough away match
against Eastern Province into a must-win affair.
Squads:
Natal: Doug Watson, Mark Bruyns, Jon Kent, Andrew Hudson, Jonty
Rhodes, Errol Stewart, Wade Wingfield, Eldine Baptiste (capt),
Ross Veenstra, Gulam Bodi, Gary Gilder, Kevin Pietersen.
Gauteng: Adam Bacher (capt), Andrew Hall, Graeme Smith, Ken
Rutherford, Zander de Bruyn, Nic Pothas, Geoffrey Toyana, Dean
Laing, Justin Engelke, Neil Fusedale, Johnson Mafa. Play begins
at 4 pm.