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Hamza returns as Cobras aim for strong finish

Six Gun Grill Cape Cobras coach Ashwell Prince is hoping his team can end the 4-Day Domestic Series strongly when they take on the VKB Knights in the final regular-season match starting on Tuesday.

The hosts, without a win all season, will be aiming to break that poor return when they entertain a visiting team bidding to consolidate their top spot in Pool A and reach next week’s final where they will play the Pool B winners.

The Knights (102.08 points) presently lead their section by just over a point from the Hollywoodbets Dolphins (100.92). The Cobras (62.34) are bottom of the Pool B table that is headed by the Momentum Multiply Titans (86.84).  

A week ago, Prince’s side were well-placed to press for victory against the Warriors, but rain intervened to ruin their prospects.

“Before the last game against the Warriors we decided that we wanted to end the season strongly,” the coach said. “We got ourselves into a really good position in that match but unfortunately because of the weather we didn’t get the opportunity to see it through.

“Again the message will be the same, we want to finish off the season strongly.”

Prince knows the Knights will mean business when they arrive at Six Gun Grill Newlands.

“Obviously the Knights will present a different challenge,” he added. “They will come with a very competitive team and we’re expecting that to be a good challenge.

“They come here hoping to qualify for the final and there’s weather about at the moment from the start of the game rather than later in the week, so how that affects the game at this stage we don’t know.

“But the position of the Cobras is the same, we want to end the campaign on a strong note. Hopefully we can get ourselves into a strong position like the last game and finish it off. “

For the Knights coach Allan Donald, last week’s failure to beat the Titans means there is little room for error in the coming days.

“Now we know it’s a must win in Cape Town if we want to host a home final,” he explained. “I thought it was a very good game of cricket in Pretoria.

“I thought the two sides battled really hard and if that was a final, it was perfectly set up for day five. But in the end we both had to settle for a draw.”

Even though the Knights can reach the final with all three results, their coach is not willing to leave anything to chance.

“The equation is very clear for us, we know where we’re at and what needs to be done,” he concluded. “We need to win here because the Dolphins are going to push very hard, they’re playing well, so we have no room to relax. It all makes for a really exciting climax.

“It’s been a while since I’ve seen a the summer so tightly contested and what better place to come and play this crucial match than here at Newlands against a Cobras side with nothing to lose.” 

Zubayr Hamza returns from the injury which he picked up during the the CSA T20 Challenge and will captain the side.

Six Gun Grill Cape Cobras Squad: Zubayr Hamza (Captain), Jonathan Bird, Corbin Bosch, Nandre Burger, Tony de Zorzi, Isma-eel Gafieldien, George Linde, Pieter Malan, Imraan Manack, Tshepo Moreki, Akhona Mnyaka, Onke Nyaku, Jason Smith, Kyle Verreynne

The 4-Day Domestic Series Tables