Cape Cobras and Barbados Tridents are getting used to not having their stars around, but there’s not much time left for adjustment.
Dale Steyn and J-P. Duminy for the former and Kieron Pollard, Dwayne Smith and Jason Holder for the Caribbean side are unavailable. Life without them hasn’t been easy.
While Cobras have already lost both their matches, Tridents began with a defeat too. At least, the latter showed some fight before falling away against Kings XI Punjab.
“There are a lot of positives from that game. I don’t think all the guys believed that we could do well but we now believe that we are good enough to play with the big guys. Kings XI is a great side… it is good that we could compete with them the way we did,” said skipper Rayad Emrit at the PCA Stadium.
His team meets Cobras in Friday’s first Oppo Champions League Twenty20 Group B match here. A five-day rest after the defeat to KXIP was a “bit long” but Emrit and his boys have utilised the time well by watching a lot of cricket.
Cobras, though, know that Tridents will come hard at them and will respond in equal measure, according to vice-captain Dane Vilas.
“We know they’re a quite aggressive. Hopefully, our plans come into play and we can neutralise their aggression. We’ve also got a lot of aggressive players, especially in our batting, who can counteract their punch,” said the wicketkeeper-batsman.
Teams:
Barbados Tridents: Rayad Emrit (C), Jonathan Carter, Elton Chigumbura, Shane Dowrich, James Franklin, Jason Holder, Akeal Hosein, Neil McKenzie, Kyle Mayers, Jeevan Mendis, Dilshan Munaweera, Ashley Nurse, William Perkins, Ravi Rampaul, Raymon Reifer.
Cape Cobras: Hashim Amla, Justin Kemp, Rory Kleinveldt, Charl Langeveldt, Richard Levi, Aviwe Magijima, Justin Ontong (c), Robin Peterson, Vernon Philander, Dane Piedt, Zakhele Qwabe, Omphile Ramela, Stiaan Van Zyl, Dane Vilas (wk), Sybrand Engelbrecht.
