The top-of-the-table Warriors arrived in East London on Wednesday ahead of their Momentum One-Day Cup day/night clash against the bizhub Highveld Lions at Buffalo Park on Friday.
The Eastern Cape’s premier side touched down fresh off a win over the Hollywoodbets Dolphins in Durban that saw them leapfrog the team they shared the trophy with last season after the final was washed out by rain.
“We were very happy with the win. The Dolphins are a really good side so we were happy to play some very good cricket and get over the line,” said Warriors captain Jon Jon Smuts.
“I think that was pretty much as close as we can get to a perfect allround performance. Our bowling unit was outstanding, and even with the delay during the chase, we came back out and got home comfortably.”
In the match the Dolphins batted first and were cruising when Protea players David Miller (68) and Andile Phehlukwayo (68) had both reached half centuries, before a great fightback saw them all out for 244.
The plaudits went to eventual man-of-the-match Sisanda Magala, who claimed 5/59, but he received good support from Lutho Sipamla (2/45) and the economical Anrich Nortje (1/36).
The Warriors chase then got off to a decent start despite the early wicket of Matthew Breetzke (17), with them in a comfortable position of 90/1 in the 21st over when the players were called off for lightning.
When they returned, the match had been reduced to 31 overs, with the Warriors still needing 62 runs and despite opener Gihahn Cloete falling soon after the resumption for a well played 55, Smuts (42no) and Lesiba Ngoepe (28no) took the team home with ease.
The win was the Warriors’ third in four games, with their other being a no result, keeping their impressive unbeaten run going.
“It is great for us to be top of the log and it would be nice to stay there, but at the moment we are just aiming to look after the process, play good positive cricket, and if we do that we know the results and log finish will look after itself,” said Smuts.
“So for us it’s about getting momentum and playing good cricket throughout this whole campaign and hopefully we can make it into the playoffs and play some good cricket there as well.”
A tough encounter is now next up for them against the Lions, but with a good record at Buffalo Park, the team should be confident.
They will have to do it without the services of Nortje as he will have joined up with the Proteas ahead of their one-day series against Sri Lanka, while the side could receive a boost from the inclusion of Border star batsman Marco Marais who is in the squad and knows the ground very well.
“They [the Lions] are a good side. They have won the four-day competition, a large group of them were part of the MSL (Mzandi Super League) winning team as well, so although things haven’t gone great for them so far in the campaign we know that we have to be at our best against them and give them the respect they deserve,” said Smuts.
“We obviously have a great record at Buffalo Park, we really enjoy playing there, we always get a big crowd, so hopefully we can come out and really put in a big performance in front of our home crowd and come out on top.”
The match gets under way at 1.30pm on Friday...