THE cricket season has turned into an uphill battle for the Nelson Mandela Bay team of the Warriors.
Our local cricket heroes must have had some mixed feelings when they watched the rain falling at St George Park on Sunday. The rain is of course very much needed in the drought-stricken Eastern Cape and no one will say no to that.
It was the rain though in Bloemfontein recently that meant heartbreak for the Warriors as they saw their title hopes washed away.
The Warriors were in a great position to beat the Knights and win the four-day title for the first time in their history.
Sadly, for the Warriors, the rain had the last say and the Titans were crowned as champions. Not that it is any consolation for the Warriors but it was good to see there was some acknowledgement from the Titans for the Warriors’ effort and the bad luck that ruined their title chances.
What is highly encouraging though is the effort of the Warriors this season in the longer version of the game.
Traditionally the Warriors struggle in this format and, hopefully, they will be more consistent in the future.
There were some fine performances with the bat by Rudi Second and Matthew Breetzke during the series. Mthiwekhaya Nabe did great work with the ball, taking 24 wickets in seven matches.
After a poor performance at home in the Cricket South Africa T20 Challenge, winning the four-day trophy would have done wonders for the self-confidence of the Warriors, going into the One Day Cup that started this past Friday.
It was important for the Warriors to start the One Day series well but what happened? They got completely trashed by the Lions in Johannesburg and to make matters worse, it was a former teammate, Sisanda Magala, who did the damage.
Magala was thrown out of the national squad for not meeting the fitness requirements but got through 10 overs against the Warriors to claim six wickets.
The Warriors had to return to the Bay to try to get their campaign on track against the Dragons on Sunday, but instead they had to look at the wonderful rain denying them to get play under way.
It is still early days in the One Day Cup but the Warriors will start to become a bit restless and will want to get that first win under the belt.
They get their chance this afternoon to do just that against Western Province in Cape Town – good luck boys!
