The transition from one-day cricket to the four-day game can often be a challenge, and The Titans captain, Henry Davids, admits that his side failed the test in their opening match of the Sunfoil Series.
The Titans lost to the Highveld Lions by 205 runs and will need to up their game significantly when they take on the Nashua Mobile Cape Cobras at Sahara Willowmoore Park from Thursday.
Lions quick Hardus Viljoen created most of the Titans’ problems at SuperSport Park in the last round, but as well as he bowled, Davids believes his batsmen were largely to blame.
“He was bowling a good line but most of the balls we could have left,” said Davids. “We need to switch very quickly - obviously the guys came from one-day cricket and had about a week to adapt, so I think that cost us a couple of wickets and it’s something we’ve spoken about long and hard.
“I think it’s just a mental switch - it’s nothing technical or anything like that.”
The Titans will be boosted by the return of all-rounder David Wiese from national duty, and are hoping to have Marchant de Lange back in their line-up as the fast bowler works his way back from injury.
The message from the Cobras management to their players after an innings victory over the Sunfoil Dolphins last weekend has been ‘same again please’, although captain Justin Ontong is keen to guard against complacency.
“We’ve told the guys that it’s not going to get any easier, so we must keep that same intensity and make sure that we’re on top of our game all the time,” said Ontong. “Obviously the Titans lost their first game but they’ll come back strongly, and we don’t know what the conditions are going to be like in Benoni - it’s always a guessing game there.
“We can’t wait to get there and see what sort of pitch we’re going to be playing on.”
HEAD TO HEAD – The Titans vs Cape Cobras
Matches Played 18
Titans Win 06
Cobras Win 08
Draw 04
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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James was the full-time Media Manager at Yorkshire County Cricket Club between 2007 and 2010.
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