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Cape Town - Cape Cobras coach Paul Adams has room for optimism ahead of their T20 Challenge clash against the Warriors at Newlands in Cape Town on Friday.
The struggling hosts pushed the Titans all the way in their latest outing on Wednesday, and had it not been for the brilliance of Albie Morkel, they may just have won a first match of 2016/17.
Instead, it is the same old story for Adams and company as they try to arrest a slide that has seen their winless start to the campaign now stretched to seven matches across two competitions. “It was a big improvement from our previous game,” the Cobras coach said. “Obviously the result didn’t go our way, but there were lots of encouraging signs.
“We had two young batsmen (Cebo Tshiki and Jason Smith) do exceptionally well. The bowling, the fielding…there was lots energy, we were right in it. We were probably 20 runs short, but I think the signs are all there to suggest improvement.”
Adams remains bullish about their prospects despite a second loss in two that has left them second-bottom on the table. “We have just got to keep building on it and as the tournament goes on, hopefully get that win and then latch on to that momentum that comes with it,” added the coach, whose side also play the bizhub Highveld Lions on Sunday.
The Warriors were not in action in midweek, but did win their only match of the competition thus far when they hammered the Hollywoodbets Dolphins in Durban last Sunday. They also face a double-match weekend with the VKB Knights awaiting them in Bloemfontein on Sunday.
Despite the struggles of their Cape rivals, coach Malibongwe Makete is not willing to take them for granted. “The Cobras have a really good team and they have game-breakers all over their line-up,” he said. “And in this format, you just need one or two player to come off to win a game.
“So we have a lot of respect for the Cobras franchise and their players. Things may be tough now, but we also know that things will come right.
“In saying that, we’re not focussing on them too much, but just on what we need to do, which is to keep it simple and do the basics correctly. If we can do that, I'm sure we can build on what happened last wee
