Warriors first South African side into CLT20 Print E-mail
Category: Domestic Leagues
Written by Luke Tagg   
Wednesday, 03 March 2010 21:51
The Warriors from Port Elizabeth beat the Cape Cobras from Cape Town in the second leg of their Standard Bank Pro20 semi-final tonight to advance to the final and become the first South African side to make it into the 2010 Champions League Twenty20.

As great as it is to be in the final of the domestic T20 league, the real prize is the CLT20. Warriors captain Davy Jacobs made that clear in his post-match interview, by admitting it was the real goal for his team, who cruelly lost out to the Eagles last year in a Super Over.

This means the CLT20 will have two different South African sides this year to the ones that played in the inaugural tournament (the Cobras and the Eagles). The other side this year will be one of the Highveld Lions or the Titans.

The Cobras can't complain - they were crap in both legs of the semi-final and indeed for most of the season. Their batting - once their strength - has become a major weakness, as has their tactical approach to it.

They failed to chase 121 tonight, falling 10 runs short, which isn't good enough from a side featuring hitters like Robin Peterson, Justin Kemp, Herschelle Gibbs and Richard Levi.

The Warriors won both semi-finals because they have the bowling attack from hell, led by the redoubtable Rusty Theron, who is currently the best limited overs bowler in South Africa. By far.

His counterpart, the highly-valued Charl Langeveldt, conceded 20 runs off the final over of the Warriors innings, which in hindsight cost the Cobras the game.

Theron, however, took 2/29 and defended two of the last three overs of the Cobras' innings to ensure the Warriors achieved their dream.

Theron will get to shine now: he's already been selected for South Africa's provisional 30-man squad for the World Twenty20 and will now be seen by millions of cricket-lovers and scouts across the globe in the Champions League.

Despite being a die-hard Cobras fan, I can't help feeling as though I'd rather the Warriors were in the CLT20. I think they'll put up a good fight and there are some boys in that side waiting for the opportunity to become men.

Their time has arrived.

Davy Jacobs mentioned in his interview that his team hadn't even allowed themselves to think about the CLT20 this year, so great was their disappointment last year when they lost the Super Over to the Eagles.

He said his team's performances in all limited overs competitions this year (they won the MTN40) were driven by it, however, and you could tell - there was no way the Warriors were losing this game tonight. Rusty Theron was direct proof of the focus the team has.

It says a lot that the Warriors were without Jacques Kallis and Mark Boucher - when those two guys pitch up in the CLT20 the side will be even stronger.

Congrats to Russell Domingo, the Warriors and Port Elizabeth. Enjoy your windy bloody city, you bastards.

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