Warriors stumble in Eastern Cape derby

The Dafabet Warriors ended the YesPlay Pro20 Cup group phase with a seven-wicket defeat against the Eastern Cape Iinyathi at Buffalo Park on Saturday, with stand-in captain Jean du Plessis admitting their 136/8 was never enough after they elected to bat first.

The Warriors, who made nine changes to their side for the final group encounter, had already secured their place in the Super 8 phase following three successive bonus-point victories, including their six-wicket win over the Hollywoodbets Dolphins in Durban on Tuesday.

With qualification already assured, the Warriors made wholesale changes to their XI for the Eastern Cape derby, handing opportunities to a number of players outside their regular starting combination.

But despite JP King anchoring the innings with a measured 50 off 41 balls, the Warriors could only reach 136/8 from their 20 overs.

King struck four fours and a six, while Du Plessis contributed 25 from 23 balls and Andile Mokgakane added 21.

Iinyathi's Sithembile Langa was the pick of the attack, claiming 3/22 from his four overs, while Jan Coetzer also took three wickets for 25 runs.

Du Plessis felt the Warriors had simply failed to build enough meaningful partnerships.

“Honestly, I don't think it was enough. We let ourselves down with the bat, we needed to string a few more partnerships together,” he said after the match.

“Credit must go to them, they did that really well through the middle [of the innings] and that's why they ended up on the winning side.”

King's half-century was the one significant batting highlight for the Warriors, with Du Plessis praising the way the youngster adapted to a difficult Buffalo Park surface and the conditions.

“JP batted beautifully. I think he held the innings together nicely and he was able to accelerate on a difficult wicket,” he said.

“We were just talking about making sure that we take on the right side with the wind. So credit to him, he had a good game plan.”

Iinyathi then produced the kind of batting performance Du Plessis had wanted from his own side, chasing down the target with 11 balls to spare.

The hosts finished on 139/3 in 18.1 overs, with Nathan Roux batting through the innings and the home side's middle order showing greater composure in partnerships.

For Du Plessis, the difference was the hosts' ability to understand the conditions and build partnerships when it mattered.

“I think they batted really well. They understand their own conditions really well and I think they understood the value of partnerships.”

Follow The Herald WhatsApp channel today and stay connected to the stories shaping our

world.

The Herald