Lions young guns gear up for Dolphins
The bizhub Highveld Lions know they will need to hunt as a pack when they take on a more illustrious opponent in the Sunfoil Dolphins in Wednesday’s televised RAM SLAM T20 clash at Sahara Stadium Kingsmead.
Instead of hiring overseas stars in the competition, the Lions have opted to blood a handful of younger players with little experience in franchise cricket – an approach which worked on Sunday when they beat the Cape Cobras.
On Wednesday they will come up against a powerful Dolphins batting line-up that boasts former England star Kevin Pietersen as well as quick scorers like David Miller, Cameron Delport and Morne van Wyk, but coach, Geoff Toyana, believes they will not be overawed.
“We’ve chatted about it, and discussed how if a pack of wild dogs attack an elephant, they do it as a group,” he said. “It can’t just be one of them going and having a nibble, it takes the whole pack.
“Also our key is to play the ball and not the man.”
The Dolphins have retained the same squad that beat The Unlimited Titans in their opening game, and Lance Klusener feels it is likely that they will use two spinners on Wednesday, with Durban having gone through a dry spell.
The Dolphins coach also had some admiration for his opposition’s approach to the tournament, but won’t be taking them lightly.
“I think it’s quite a fresh approach,” said Klusener. “It might appear as though they don’t have a lot of experience, but a lot of the young guys tend to only play Twenty20 and one-day cricket so they probably have a lot of games under them.
“They might be inexperienced at the highest level but they had a good start. I think it’s an interesting way of going about it.”
The game gets underway at 6pm and will be shown live on SuperSport 2.
Jacasport