We don’t mind underdog tag, says Warriors skipper

Warriors captain Matthew Breetzke says the team is happy to carry the underdog tag when his side take on the Dolphins in the second Cricket SA T20 Challenge semifinal in Durban on Thursday.

After a whirlwind start to the competition, which saw them go on an eight-game unbeaten run alongside a solitary loss to lead the pack, they looked well on course to host a semifinal at St George’s Park.

However, they descended into a dizzying downward spiral, suffering defeat on four successive occasions in their last five matches, including a seven-wicket loss to the Dolphins in their final group match to drop to third in the standings.

Despite that run of bad form, Breetzke said he was confident his players would stand up and be counted with just two matches between them and a first domestic T20 trophy since the 2009/10 season.

“When you go into a semifinal, it is a 50-50 game, regardless of how well the other teams are playing,” he said. “I think it will come down to who can handle the pressure best in a knockout game.

“We are in a good space at the moment and just need to get our game on the field together.”

Breetzke said the batting department was one of the areas they needed to tidy up.

Losing wickets in clusters and failing to put together more than one decent partnership have seen the Gqeberha side fail to breach 150 in one of the last four matches.

“Our batting hasn’t been up to scratch, but in saying that, we took a lot of positives from the Dolphins game, in particular Jordan Hermann’s innings

“He is an important player for us and it is good to have him back in form going into the semis.

“There is not much more I can say to get the boys charged up for this match.

“It is a semifinal and they have to be up for it. The way we look at it is that we are two games away from potentially lifting the trophy.”

With at least three Warriors players involved in the SA20 final in February, Breetzke said playing in situations like that would certainly help them handle the pressure.

Despite not having the privilege of playing a semifinal at home, Breetzke said: “There is nothing better than going to an away game and beating the hosts in front of their home fans.

“That is what drives this young, motivated team.

“We don’t mind having our backs against the wall, the Dolphins will come into the match as the favourites in their home conditions but we don’t mind having the underdog tag, because we will also come out pretty strong.”