Washed out finals have seen the Cobras having to share the one-day title in the past two seasons, so coach Paul Adams will have been grateful to see forecasts of warm weather – and no rain – for Friday night’s One-Day Cup final at Newlands.
“This time around there is no rain in sight so we can expect a full game on Friday and hopefully we can finally win the title outright, instead of sharing it,” Adams said yesterday.
Having already bagged the domestic T20 title, the Cobras would love nothing more than to be crowned South Africa’s one-day kings by claiming the 50-over title as well.
The Cobras topped the log for most of the round-robin stage despite losing two of their last three matches, and Adams is confident that his side will be back to their best come Friday.
“A final is a one-off game, so it does not matter what happened in a previous match. We just need to make sure that we are ready and that we play our best match. That is what we are focusing on now in training so that when match-day comes we will be fully prepared.”
A major boost for the Cobras has been the return of their South Africa A player contingent s as they welcome back Dane Vilas, Stiaan van Zyl, Mthokozisi Shezi, Beuran Hendricks and skipper Justin Ontong.
“It is really important that we get our SA A guys back into the Cobras mode and into the right space. For this week that will be one of our goals while we also want the guys to hone their skills and make sure that they are ready.”
Veteran all-rounder Justin Kemp is the only injury concern for the Cobras as the 35-year-old hurt his ankle during a 25-run defeat to the Dolphins last week.
“The swelling on Justin’s ankle still needs to go down a bit, so we will make a call on him in the next few days. If he does not make it in time then we will have to look at either bringing in Dane Paterson or Beuran Hendricks as an extra fast bowler.”
Paterson has been a regular for the Cobras in all three formats this season, but Adams may be tempted to select Hendricks in order to be ble to operate with two left-arm fast bowlers, the other being Shezi. - Cape Argus