Warriors opt to bat against Boland

The Dafabet Warriors have won the toss and have decided to bat first against Goldrush Boland in an important One-Day Cup match at Boland Park in Paarl on Saturday morning.

The hosts, having won two of their four games to date, will be hard-pressed to make home ground advantage count as they are already six points adrift of the table-topping Warriors after four rounds of matches.

The weak link for the hosts is their batting line-up! Boland did make a valiant effort against the Momentum Multiply Titans in a rain-shortened match, scoring 213 for nine in 22 overs, thanks mainly to Imran Manack’s blistering 49 from 17 balls.

However, since then, they have cobbled together 224 for nine against the winless Moothee Ram Tuskers, 121 all out against the NWU Dragons and then on Wednesday, being bundled out for 185 against World Sports Betting Western Province in the Cape-derby at WSB Newlands in Cape Town.

The visitors have been impressive, registering a 100 per cent-win record in completed matches with only their game against the DP World Lions being abandoned last week in Johannesburg.

The Warriors’ pair of Matthew de Villiers (175) and Patrick Kruger (158) are key wickets which Manack, Boland’s leading wicket-taker and most economical bowler, will be targeting.

Keith Dudgeon will also be chomping at the bit to make an impact in his 50th List A match.

Grant Roelofsen is Boland’s leading run scorer, having notched up just 125 runs to date while Kerwin Mungroo, just one scalp behind Manack, will be leading the charge for the men from Gqeberha.

Victory for the Warriors will give them a commanding lead at the top of the standings while Boland will be hoping to fix their batting woes and keep pace with the leading trio of the Warriors, Lions, and Titans.

GOLDRUSH BOLAND – Grant Roelofsen, Blayde Capell, Gavin Kaplin, Clyde Reeves-Fortuin (capt, wk), Jhedli van Briesies, Ferisco Adams, Ethan Cunningham, Imraan Manack, Keith Dudgeon, Yves Kamanzi, Akhona Mnyaka.

DAFABET WARRIORS – Muhammed Manack, Modiri Litheko, Matthew de Villiers (capt), Jean du Plessis (wk), Senuran Muthusamy, Sinethemba Qeshile, Patrick Kruger, Jean Upman, Thomas Kaber, Kerwin Mungroo, Gideon Peters.