It’s a local derby on Sunday 7 April as eta Northerns Senior Provincial Men take on Easterns in the CSA One-Day Challenge Final at SuperSport Park.
The sides are evenly matched going into the Final with Easterns riding the momentum of the three straight wins, with their last defeat coming against Northerns in February.
“We’re preparing for it like it’s any other game. We’re not trying to put too much on the final even though it is a big occasion. Yes we lost to Northerns in the preliminary round but we did beat them in the three day game so we do have some confidence against them,” said Easterns head coach Richard Das Neves.
Easterns hopes will rest on a team effort which has worked for them for much of the season with runs and wickets being shared evenly amongst players.
“Individuals can win cricket games but teams win finals, so it’s always been our main focus to build a quality side that everyone can contribute and we’ve had some big contributions from everyone at some stage during the season,” Das Neves said of his side.
JP Triegaart, Northerns head coach, understood that their victory over Easterns in the round robin stage wouldn’t mean much on Sunday,
“For me it’s what happens on the day that matters. We’ve played them in their home conditions in Benoni where the wicket is different to SuperSport Park and conditions play a massive role in how we go about playing.
“I feel on the day whoever executes their skill will turn out on top in the end,” Triegaart reiterated
Both Northerns and Easterns players have featured regularly for the Multiply Titans and both coaches agree it’s important that they’re fulfilling their role of producing players for the franchise side.
“It just says that we’re doing the right things at the bottom to produce all the Titans players moving up so that’s thumbs up for the Senior Provincial side.” Triegaart expressed while Das Neves echoed: “It’s always a good thing that our players are getting recognised by the Titans and it’s always massive to have guys like Grant Thomson and Matthew Arnold come back down into our setup and they always make a big impact”.
Sunday’s encounter is set to be a big one for both teams and the Multiply Titans,.
“It’s a massive occasion for the franchise as a whole, obviously the Titans won the Momentum One-Day Cup and now to have Northerns and Easterns playing in the senior provincial 1-Day Cup just shows the depth within the franchise and how good all the cricketers are and not only the ones everyone sees on TV,” Das Neves concluded.
The CSA Provincial One-Day Challenge Final will get underway from 9:30 at SuperSport Park.
