Iinyathi assistant coach Rowan Richards says the knowledge he gained from his recent involvement with the SA A team in India has proved handy in his preparation with the Border team’s bowling attack, adding to their bag of tricks.
Iinyathi play the Limpopo Impalas at Buffalo Park on Thursday (10am) and hope to make it four wins in a row in the CSA Division 2 One-Day Cup.
Richards, who handles the bowling department for Iinyathi, was roped in as a bowling consultant for SA A in their unofficial Test and three 50-over games in India.
In the 50-over series, India won the first two games, but the South African team bounced back in the third.
The bowling attack played a vital role in dismantling the strong Indian batting line-up. Richards, together with the likes of experienced division one players Lutho Sipamla, Tshepo Moreki, Nqaba Peter, Bjorn Fortuin and Delano Potgieter, conjured up a master plan to stop India from piling on the runs.
At home, when Iinyathi’s backs were against the wall after losing their opening two matches against the Knights and SA Emerging, Richards leaned on the experience and tactics that got them out of trouble and saved them from a series whitewash in India.
“Working with guys like Tshepo and Lutho, I learnt some new things. They also learnt some things from me. That Indian trip helped me as a bowling coach to learn new tricks which I passed down to the guys at the Iinyathi, and they have been doing well in terms of our bowling,” he said.
Since the defeats against the Knights and SA Emerging, Border managed to bowl out their next three opponents — Eastern Storm, Mpumalanga Rhinos and South West District Badgers — coming out on the winning side of all three games.
Suffocating teams in the first powerplay and making sure their top-order batters did not build momentum for the rest of the batters had been the masterstroke for Iinyathi, Richards said.
The result is that Nico van Zyl, Chad Classen, Thando Ntini, Hardus Coetzer and Kgaudi Molefe are among the leading wicket-takers and more economical bowlers in the competition.
“We have been sticking to our plans. If you look at our games, we have been doing well in the powerplay. That is something that we targeted in our opposition.”
Daily Dispatch