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Cape Town - Knights coach Alan Kruger has lamented the fact that his team is playing catch-up cricket again as they prepare to welcome the Warriors for their round two CSA T20 Challenge outing in Kimberley on Tuesday.
The hosts suffered defeat to the Dolphins in their competition opener over the weekend, a match in which they were mainly poor at Kingsmead.
They were restricted to 133 for eight after throwing away a good start and then went on to lose by four wickets with nine deliveries to spare.
"Once again we are playing catch-up and we'll have to try our best to hit back against the Warriors tomorrow," Kruger bemoaned.
"I wasn't too unhappy with the way we started against the Dolphins, but then we lost our way quite badly.
"We have a few things we need to address, like our middle-order batting and our running between the wickets. That was disappointing for me, hopefully we'll learn from it in our next game."
The Warriors, meanwhile, beat the Titans in their first match and have generally been a better than average side in white-ball cricket over the past few years.
"The Warriors play white-ball cricket very well," Kruger added. "They have some good experience and we know exactly the dangers they pose. We'll have to be ready for them or they will punish us."
Jon-Jon Smuts, captain of the Eastern Cape side, admits that his side were slightly fortuitous to have won their first game. Chasing a massive 216 for five - revised to 200 in 18 overs - against a side that was fresh from winning the 50-over One-Day, they reached 60 for none in six when rain forced an early abandonment.
They won by four runs on the DLS Method, with the skipper happy to have taken the points.
"I don't know if I can say we got away with one against the Titans because the game was in the balance after six overs when it ended," Smuts stated. "It's a pity the rain cut short proceedings because I think it could have been a very exciting game.
"But I was happy to take the points."
Looking ahead to the trip to the Northern Cape, the captain hoped they would be able to get more points on the road early on in the 20-over competition.
"It a tough competition and there's a stage when we’re away for 10 days, so it will be difficult, but also exciting at the same time," he added. "Hopefully we can get some good momentum on the road.
"But every team is a good team, so you have to get your basics right and make sure you rock up for each game."
