The Eastern Cape Iinyathi camp are focused on building momentum and nabbing the scalp of the Garden Route Badgers on Sunday to ensure they move further up the CSA Division 2 One Day Cup standings.
A win in that tie, with some favours here and there from the other fixtures, especially including Eastern Storm (11pts), Limpopo Impalas (12pts) and Knights (15pts), will help propel Iinyathi towards their goals.
The Impalas and Easterns play each other on Saturday, meaning that should Iinyathi, who have nine points, defeat the Badgers, they will be guaranteed third place.
Captain Nathan Roux knows what is at stake but did not want his team to overthink the situation.
He wanted the defending champs to stick to their processes, which have seen the team secure back-to-back wins after having lost their opening two fifty-over games.
Those include the batting order chipping from top and middle, and his bowlers utilising the home conditions.
He said the team ticked the boxes in those aspects in their past two victories against the Easterns and the Mpumalanga Rhinos.
“It’s good that it’s not one guy that is contributing now. Everyone is getting involved.
“We are one of the fittest teams in Division 2. We should be running teams into ground,” Roux said.
“We have been getting starts but then we would get bang bang bang and lose wickets in quick succession.
“In the Knights game the big thing was how can we develop partnerships.
“We know we have the firepower at the back end. If we stick to our processes we should be able to get more wins,” he said.
Iinyathi wicketkeeper and batter Mncedisi Malika echoed the sentiments of Roux that they needed to turn the screws in the next game.
Malika was among the top contributors in the team’s 59-run victory over Easterns on Wednesday.
He scored an impressive unbeaten 86 runs.
“It was not a fluent innings. I had to give myself time and see how the pitch is. That’s what the position in the middle order I bat in requires,” Malika said.
Another batter, Lihle Sizani, who has scored consecutive half centuries for Iinyathi in their past two games, said it would be key for them to win on Sunday and the other remaining matches.
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