After the excitement of the past month\u2019s SA20 cricket action, Dafabet Warriors coach Robin Peterson is confident his players will be ready to switch gears as they resume their push for a place in the CSA 4-Day Series final this weekend.<\/p>\n
While not all Warriors were involved in the SA20, those who were will face a swift transition from the tournament\u2019s high-octane format to the demands of four-day cricket. The Warriors host the Lions at St George\u2019s Park, starting on Sunday.<\/p>\n
Peterson, however, is unfazed, drawing on experience from previous seasons.<\/p>\n
\u201cPlayers who have been involved in these situations are able to make the necessary adjustments, especially now that we\u2019re in the fourth season of the SA20, so it\u2019s not new anymore,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd the guys who weren\u2019t part of the SA20 have been training for a while, with middle-wicket sessions. As long as players have been playing cricket \u2014 either in the SA20 or in practice \u2014 I\u2019m happy.\u201d<\/p>\n
They\u2019re one of the stronger teams in the competition, and the pressure will be on all of us because about five teams are still in contention for the final<\/p>\n
\u2014 \u00a0Dafabet Warriors coach Robin Peterson<\/p>\n
The Warriors boast a proud four-day record and currently top the log on 92.40 points, with two rounds remaining, placing them in a strong position to qualify for the final.<\/p>\n
But Peterson is well aware that the race remains tight.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne of the things at the Warriors is that we pride ourselves on how we perform in four-day cricket,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re proud of what we\u2019ve done over the last couple of seasons, so we definitely won\u2019t take anything for granted against the Lions.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re one of the stronger teams in the competition, and the pressure will be on all of us because about five teams are still in contention for the final.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Warriors hold an eight-point lead over second-placed Dragons and are 10 points clear of the Lions, giving them a slight cushion, but not enough for complacency.<\/p>\n
\u201cEven with the luxury of a small lead, this is a must-win for us,\u201d Peterson said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we can win this game, it becomes very difficult for the chasing teams to catch us. That\u2019s a big incentive to go out and put in a strong performance.\u201d<\/p>\n
With three wins and two draws from five matches, the Warriors have plenty to be satisfied with, although Peterson acknowledged that they have had to show resilience at times.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve found ways to fight our way back into games, which shows the character in the team,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut in a situation like this, you want to get on the front foot from the start, and that\u2019s something we\u2019ll be focusing on.\u201d<\/p>\n
Peterson played down the advantage of playing at home at St George\u2019s Park.<\/p>\n
\u201cEveryone knows the conditions\u2014there are no secrets,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s usually something in it for the bowlers, and you need a solid technique to score runs. There might be a slight advantage for us, but I don\u2019t see it as a game-changer.\u201d<\/p>\n
Following the clash with the Lions, the Warriors will conclude their four-day campaign with an away fixture against the Dolphins from February 9 to 12.<\/p>\n
The latest points standings are: 1 Warriors 92.40, 2 Dragons 84.36, 3 Lions 82.28, 4 Boland 81.44, 5 Dolphins 78.56, 6 Western Province 67.28, 7 Titans 48.32, 8 Tuskers 43.38.<\/p>\n
Round six fixtures (home teams first)<\/p>\n
Jan 31 to Feb 3: Dragons v Dolphins<\/p>\n
Feb 1 to 4: Boland v WP, Warriors v Lions, Tuskers v Titans<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After the excitement of the past month\u2019s SA20 cricket action, Dafabet Warriors coach Robin Peterson is confident his…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":445099,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[564],"tags":[230936,64,63,740,2649,4127,230935,85,230937,3198],"class_list":{"0":"post-445098","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cricket","8":"tag-4-day-cricket-series","9":"tag-au","10":"tag-australia","11":"tag-cricket","12":"tag-final","13":"tag-lions","14":"tag-robin-peterson","15":"tag-sports","16":"tag-st-georges-park","17":"tag-warriors"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/445098","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=445098"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/445098\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/445099"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=445098"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=445098"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=445098"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}