The ITEC Knights will look to return to winning ways this week when they face the Garden Route Badgers Bloemfontein in Division 2 of the CSA 4-Day series.
The match in Bloemfontein will be the Knights last game of the group stage and a win is important in order to hopefully secure a spot in the final.
The Knights have suffered back-to-back nine wicket defeats against the Eastern Storm and Eastern Cape Iinyathi and this has put them under pressure.
The Knights are fighting for promotion back up to Division 1 after being relegated at the end of last season, and every single point is going to count. Finishing as the runner-up in the One-Day Cup means that the Knights are still in quite a strong position, but adding the points for a title will almost guarantee promotion. That said, nothing can be left to chance.
The Knights captain, Patrick Botha, told OFM Sport it’s an important game and their focus is on the now and not the future, or the other games being played this week and next.
“It wasn’t a great result last week, and it just means that this game is a really big one for us,” said Botha.
“The bowling units’ energy this season has been unbelievable for us and we’re looking forward to having them firing in this game. They’ve trained hard and we’re looking forward to the game.
“Regarding to the other games, our focus isn’t really on it, our focus is on this game and what we can get out of it.”
Play at the Mangaung Oval is scheduled to get underway at 10:00 on Thursday.
Morgan Piek OFM Sport
