Cape Town - The Warriors and Cape Cobras will both be eager to get off the mark when they go out in search of first Momentum One-Day Cup victories from their meeting at Buffalo Park in East London on Wednesday.
The hosts suffered a 44-run loss to the Highveld Lions over the weekend, while the visitors lost by 100 runs against the Knights.
It was a tough beginning for both as they try and finish the season strongly with some silverware through the 50-over competition.
“It’s not an ideal start because it was not what we wanted against the Lions,” Warriors coach Malibongwe Maketa said. “Now we have the Cobras in a home game and it’s also involving two sides that are under pressure for results after the start that they had.
“So we want to make sure we enter the game with the right attitude, we stay calm and we improve on what happened in that first game.”
The Cobras are littered with current and former Proteas – the likes of Vernon Philander, Dane Piedt, Stiaan van Zyl and Justin Ontong to name a few – who are all expected to play.
Maketa admits it is not a side they can take for granted.
“It’s a really quality side with a whole host of international players,” he added. “When it comes to a team like them, they don’t really have too many bad games, so we need to be on our toes and ready for the game.”
The Warriors are expected to stick to the same squad that did duty in Johannesburg as they seem some early-tournament continuity.
The Cobras, meanwhile, have also kept faith with those that did duty in their heavy defeat in Bloemfontein.
Captain Dane Piedt is looking for a reaction from his charges in what is a Cape derby.
“I think we must be less frantic, buckle up and the top six must accept that other teams will come hard at them,” he said. “We need to rectify the situation against the Warriors.”
Philander, who is expected to leave for Proteas duty after the first few games, will play for his franchise.