One of the most noteworthy characteristics of last season’s Sunfoil Series was the number of results that the competition produced and, while Cape Cobras coach Paul Adams is unsure about whether that trend will continue this summer, he insists that his team won’t be changing their approach.
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Just six out of 30 matches were drawn last season, as a number of games ended inside three days because of the sporty nature of the pitches.
With results on offer the Cobras were able to win six of their 10 matches and rack up a healthy points tally on their way to the title, and they will look to continue in that vein when they kick off their defence of the trophy against the Sunfoil Dolphins at the City Oval in Pietermaritzburg today.
“There is talk that the guys are trying to make wickets that are much flatter,” said Adams. “But we’ll just look to keep to our disciplines and just play consistent cricket - I think that was an important part of how we went about it last year. We always look to play positively and see how we can get into a winning position.”
The Cobras were beaten just twice last season, but one of the teams to better them was, in fact, the Dolphins.
Lance Klusener’s side go into this week’s contest on something of a high - although they lost to The Unlimited Titans in the Momentum One-Day Cup play-off, reaching the latter stages of the competition was confirmation of their rising status.
“We’ll take the fact that most of the boys are hitting the ball and bowling the ball pretty decently, and then we’ll also take a little bit of confidence from last season, when I think a lot of the things that we were focusing on worked for us,” said Klusener. “If we put all that together we’ll get a half-decent performance.”
While Cobras stalwart Charl Langeveldt has opted out of the longest format this season, the champions have an impressive array of bowling talent to choose from.
The Dolphins, meanwhile, are boosted by the continued services of England seamer Graham Onions.
HEAD TO HEAD – Sunfoil Dolphins vs. Nashua Mobile Cape Cobras
Matches Played 18
Dolphins Win 05
Cobras Win 04
Draw 09
James Buttler
As the editor of World Cricket Badger he is intent on building the website to give quality coverage of the domestic game around the world.
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