Despite a perfect record in the Cricket SA T20 Challenge, Warriors wicketkeeper-batsman Sinethemba Qeshile believes their best is yet to come.
Qeshile displayed impressive shot-making ability as he recorded a maiden T20 half-century, registering 51 not out. He shared 93 runs off just 44 balls with Patrick Kruger (46) to help their side post an above-par 186/5 against the North West Dragons on Sunday.
In pursuit of the testing target, the visitors fell 24 runs short after JP King, Renaldo Meyer and Beyers Swanepoel shared six wickets to dismantle the Dragons’ run chase and restrict them to 162/9.
The win caused the Gqeberha side to extend their lead at the top of the standings to 27 points after recording their sixth victory of the campaign.
“We always talk about hunting in a pack and we’ve done that quite well in the past six games,” Qeshile said. “We haven’t yet played our best cricket. There are areas we can tighten up in terms of our basics, be it with the bat, ball or in the field. We are still searching for that complete game as a unit.”
The right-hander said his primary objective walking out to the middle was to get the side to a total they felt would be difficult for their opponents to chase given the playing conditions.
“It was a bit difficult to get in at first. The ball was stopping in the wicket and my timing wasn’t quite there,” he said. “Jordan [Hermann] and I spoke about building a partnership, but then we lost him so Patrick [Kruger] and I had to rebuild again and try not to expose our lower order to the Dragons’ attack.
“We had initially planned to cut loose with three overs to go but we got some runs in the 17th over and just carried that momentum through to the end. Given the two-paced nature of the pitch, we had around 160-170 in mind, so we were quite pleased to take the score past 180. T20 cricket is a thinking-on-your-feet type of game, you are never out of the game until all 120 balls have been bowled.”
Qeshile said the team was full of confidence, knowing there was no heavy reliance on one or two players to get the job done.
“Having different guys contributing in different situations with bat or ball has given us a lot of confidence as a group. The guys have performed admirably, putting in performances not just for themselves, but for the team, and our results have shown that.
“The next two games away against the Lions [in Johannesburg on Wednesday at 6pm) and Western Province [on Sunday in Paarl at 10am] will offer more stern tests but we have a lot of belief in our ability to go toe-to-toe with any of the sides in the competition,” he said.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.