Western Province all-rounder Onke Nyaku is hoping a return to Newlands will help motivate the home team in their CSA T20 Challenge match against the Tuskers today (1.30pm start).
Province have failed to win any of their last three away games, but have been virtually unbeatable at home this season.
And they will now have been handed a further bonus by playing the Tuskers twice at Newlands in this competition after the Maritzburg team had their home games revoked due to an unplayable outfield.
Province won with a bonus point the last time these two teams met at Newlands.
“We’re coming from two tough games on the road, so it’s good to be back home,” said Nyaku.
“It is a home fixture for the Tuskers. However, playing at Newlands, our guys know how to play here.
“We’ve had some really outstanding results playing at home, so we’re going to obviously take all of that knowledge into this game.”
Nyaku said Province are well aware that they will be coming up against a highly-motivated Tuskers team.
“As you’ve seen over the last few days, any team can beat any team. And that was the result between the Tuskers and the Lions game, so they definitely have a little bit of momentum on their side,” said Nyaku.
“We’re going to have to play very well in order to end up on the right side of the result, and hopefully get the win.
“But it will be a tough game. We know their bowling’s been doing reasonably well. The batting hasn’t really come to the party, but I mean, it’s pretty much the same in our sense also.”
CSA T20 CHALLENGE | We're back on home turf on Wednesday when we face the AET Tuskers.
— Western Province Men (@WP_Blitz) March 25, 2024
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The Tuskers, though, arrive in Cape Town full of confidence after earning a morale-boosting victory over the Lions at the Wanderers.
“This game against Western Province is going to be massive for us, especially after that win over the Lions,” Tuskers captain Michael Erlank said.
“I think that win has given us a lot of self-belief, and I think that that will be injected into the team. We have to take this competition one game at a time, but there is definitely more self-belief in the team.
“A result like that really helps a lot after the tough start to the competition that we had.”
For Erlank and the Tuskers, the challenge is even greater as they fight to stay in Division 1 and avoid relegation. The match against Province is the first of 10 matches that could decide their fate.
“We’ve just got to keep training hard and doing what we have been doing, because we need to keep believing that we can string good performances together,” Erlank said.
“Stringing good performances together over longer periods of time is the most important thing for us at the moment, and we are working really hard on doing that more often.
“We’ve shown through the season that we can perform at this level, but we’ve done it for short periods, which has been frustrating.
“We want to stay up in Division 1, and that means that we are going to have to win a few more games and get ourselves up the table.
Expect more electrifying action as the #CSAT20Challenge & #CSATKO resumes this Wednesday 🔥🍿
— CSA Domestic Leagues (@DomesticCSA) March 26, 2024
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“For now, though, we are going to take every game as it comes and work hard to put some good performances together.
“Getting those wins and putting ourselves in strong positions will give us the best chance of staying up next season.”
The match will start at 1.30pm and will be live on the SuperSport YouTube page.
* Cricket South Africa announced the Proteas Men’s contracted squad yesterday for the 2024/25 season, starting on May 1.
WP pair Tony de Zorzi and Nandré Burger received their first national contracts, while Titans paceman Gerald Coetzee was upgraded to a full contract during the current season and has been retained for the forthcoming season.
Dolphins all-rounder Andile Phehlukwayo make a return to the squad.
Proteas Men’s Contracted Squad
Temba Bavuma, Nandré Burger, Gerald Coetzee, Tony de Zorzi, Bjorn Fortuin, Reeza Hendricks, Marco Jansen, Heinrich Klaasen, Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, David Miller, Lungi Ngidi, Andile Phehlukwayo, Kagiso Rabada, Ryan Rickelton, Tabraiz Shamsi, Tristan Stubbs, Rassie van der Dussen.