Border will be coming out all guns blazing today on the first day of their Sunfoil Three-day Cup match against Easterns at Buffalo Park.
The hosts have endured an up-and-down three-day campaign so far, having picked up one win and one loss among four draws.
They are currently fifth in pool A and with just three games left after today, they will need the win to make a move up the table.
“We want to win this match, it has been a bit frustrating this season as we have had a number of close matches that could have gone either way and then bad weather has also seen a few of our games cut short,” Border coach Frank Plaatjes said.
Easterns will also be eager for a win as they are in the same position as Border, in pool B and coming off a loss against Western Province last week, they will be wanting to bounce back.
“Easterns have been playing well in their last few games so we know we are in for a tough match,” said Plaatjes. “Even in their loss against Western Province last week they played well but Western Province played out of their skins on the final day to win the match.”
Border’s strong point this season has been their batting and are hoping it will be the platform for their bowlers. Although the bowling department has not set the high standards of previous seasons, they still pose a threat to teams, especially at home, and if they manage to click in the match they can turn it on.
“The batters have been really good this season, they have been putting us in good positions and then in the final innings we just haven’t been driving home our advantage, so that will be a focus area for us,” said Plaatjes. “But (Mkhululi) Calana and (Gionne) Koopman have done well at the top of the order, Martin Walters has always been consistent and I am excited about Marco Marais, he is really striking the ball well at the moment.
“Bowling-wise we rely heavily on (Phaphama) Fojela. He’s been outstanding, but we have Beast who has also been bowling well and we might look to play (Sinovuyo) Ntuntwana in this game because he has the ability to take the ball away from the right-handers and Easterns have a lot of right-handed batsmen.”
Following the three-day match Border and Easterns will battle it out in a CSA Provincial One-Day Challenge match on Sunday. With Border bottom of pool A their chances in that competition are gone, so they will play for pride, while Easterns are in mid-table of pool B so still have a chance and will thus be hunting the win.
Today’s match gets under way at 10am and Sunday’s at 9.30am.
Border to step up a gear for big win
The hosts have endured an up-and-down three-day campaign so far, having picked up one win and one loss among four draws.
They are currently fifth in pool A and with just three games left after today, they will need the win to make a move up the table.
“We want to win this match, it has been a bit frustrating this season as we have had a number of close matches that could have gone either way and then bad weather has also seen a few of our games cut short,” Border coach Frank Plaatjes said.
Easterns will also be eager for a win as they are in the same position as Border, in pool B and coming off a loss against Western Province last week, they will be wanting to bounce back.
“Easterns have been playing well in their last few games so we know we are in for a tough match,” said Plaatjes. “Even in their loss against Western Province last week they played well but Western Province played out of their skins on the final day to win the match.”
Border’s strong point this season has been their batting and are hoping it will be the platform for their bowlers. Although the bowling department has not set the high standards of previous seasons, they still pose a threat to teams, especially at home, and if they manage to click in the match they can turn it on.
“The batters have been really good this season, they have been putting us in good positions and then in the final innings we just haven’t been driving home our advantage, so that will be a focus area for us,” said Plaatjes. “But (Mkhululi) Calana and (Gionne) Koopman have done well at the top of the order, Martin Walters has always been consistent and I am excited about Marco Marais, he is really striking the ball well at the moment.
“Bowling-wise we rely heavily on (Phaphama) Fojela. He’s been outstanding, but we have Beast who has also been bowling well and we might look to play (Sinovuyo) Ntuntwana in this game because he has the ability to take the ball away from the right-handers and Easterns have a lot of right-handed batsmen.”
Following the three-day match Border and Easterns will battle it out in a CSA Provincial One-Day Challenge match on Sunday. With Border bottom of pool A their chances in that competition are gone, so they will play for pride, while Easterns are in mid-table of pool B so still have a chance and will thus be hunting the win.
Today’s match gets under way at 10am and Sunday’s at 9.30am.
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