COACH Piet Botha says the various permutations will be the last thing on his players’ minds as they head into the final straight of the Ram Slam T20 Challenge today.
The Warriors have 20 points and are sitting pretty for a hefty push in their final two round-robin matches this week. Their impressive win under pressure over the table-topping Lions last Friday pushed them into fourth position, just out of the playoff spots.
They have a game in hand on the other challengers and victory over the Dolphins in Durban tonight will ensure they finish in the top three.
Wins in both matches could see them finish top if the Lions lose their final match against the Dolphins on Thursday. If that happens the Warriors qualify automatically for the final in East London on April 7.
Botha said he was not too concerned about the teams around them and says they are looking to win and let the rest take care of itself.
“There’s no point looking at permutations, it puts you under pressure,” he said.
“The win against the Lions has relieved some pressure because now we’re aware that if we win one out of two we can qualify considering the Titans and Knights face each other in their last game.
“We don’t want to leave things till that final game. We want to sew it up against the Dolphins. From there you never know what can happen.”
But Botha knows about the challenge the Dolphins pose on home soil. Lance Klusener’s men saw their slim playoff hopes disappear when they went down to the Titans last Friday .
“We needed to win on Friday and getting the desired result has released a lot of pressure. There’s two to go now and I think looking at them one-by-one is what we can focus on,” the Warriors coach added.
“I think the Dolphins can be even more dangerous now that they have been eliminated. There’s always the element of pride, which will make them more dangerous.
“They can play with a lot of freedom now and it could make things harder. We will have our work cut out, there’s no doubt in my mind.”
After tonight’s match, the Warriors will head for Cape Town where they face the Cobras at Newlands. They will want to have sealed a playoff berth before then.
The remaining T20 fixtures are: Tonight: Dolphins v Warriors (Durban); Knights v Titans (Bloemfontein)
Thursday: Cobras v Warriors (Cape Town); Lions v Dolphins (Johannesburg)
April 3: Second place v third place playoff
April 7: Final
Warriors one win away from playoff
The Warriors have 20 points and are sitting pretty for a hefty push in their final two round-robin matches this week. Their impressive win under pressure over the table-topping Lions last Friday pushed them into fourth position, just out of the playoff spots.
They have a game in hand on the other challengers and victory over the Dolphins in Durban tonight will ensure they finish in the top three.
Wins in both matches could see them finish top if the Lions lose their final match against the Dolphins on Thursday. If that happens the Warriors qualify automatically for the final in East London on April 7.
Botha said he was not too concerned about the teams around them and says they are looking to win and let the rest take care of itself.
“There’s no point looking at permutations, it puts you under pressure,” he said.
“The win against the Lions has relieved some pressure because now we’re aware that if we win one out of two we can qualify considering the Titans and Knights face each other in their last game.
“We don’t want to leave things till that final game. We want to sew it up against the Dolphins. From there you never know what can happen.”
But Botha knows about the challenge the Dolphins pose on home soil. Lance Klusener’s men saw their slim playoff hopes disappear when they went down to the Titans last Friday .
“We needed to win on Friday and getting the desired result has released a lot of pressure. There’s two to go now and I think looking at them one-by-one is what we can focus on,” the Warriors coach added.
“I think the Dolphins can be even more dangerous now that they have been eliminated. There’s always the element of pride, which will make them more dangerous.
“They can play with a lot of freedom now and it could make things harder. We will have our work cut out, there’s no doubt in my mind.”
After tonight’s match, the Warriors will head for Cape Town where they face the Cobras at Newlands. They will want to have sealed a playoff berth before then.
The remaining T20 fixtures are: Tonight: Dolphins v Warriors (Durban); Knights v Titans (Bloemfontein)
Thursday: Cobras v Warriors (Cape Town); Lions v Dolphins (Johannesburg)
April 3: Second place v third place playoff
April 7: Final
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