Mark Charlton NC Heat head coach and assistant coach Deon Carolus were hard at work with the team at the nets on Thursday helping the players fine-tune their bowling and batting technique ahead of next weekend’s clash against the Rhinos.
KIMBERLEY’S cricket team, the NC Heat will be cautious not to make the same bowling mistakes they made in their last match when they host the Mpumalanga Rhinos at the Diamond Oval in a CSA 4-Day Domestic Series match next weekend.
Mark Charlton NC Heat head coach and assistant coach Deon Carolus were hard at work with the team at the nets on Thursday helping the players fine-tune their bowling and batting technique.
Looking back at the last game against SWD, Charlton said that game was not their best. “Unfortunately we didn’t play great cricket. We batted pretty well (but) unfortunately our bowling let us down,” he told the DFA.
“On top of that SWD had a very good innings anchored by a solid performance from Leus Du Plooy. He was outstanding getting a 170. They are a great team,” Charlton added.
“We started off well. We set them a target of 350 with Ivan Jones getting 150 for us. He was batting very nicely for us. Unfortunately, our bowling was poor, especially in the first innings. We came in after that and batted nicely in the second innings; unfortunately, the damage was already done.
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“They won by eight wickets. We knew Leus was their danger man.”
Despite that setback, the NC Heat coach remained upbeat. “We were unbeaten before that game. Fortunately, we’ve won all our games until that point. So that was a bit of a disappointment. Now you know we are only two points behind Tuskers (who lead the log).
It all comes down to the last, last weekend and basically, it will be between us, the team we lost to SWD and the Tuskers. It will be these three as the other four have already been eliminated.”
As for next weekend, Charlton will not be taking any risks against the Rhinos.
“Every team is good, Like SWD they are a very good side. We always knew that they are going to be one of the contenders. Between us and them and the Tuskers, I think you always know you are going to have a tough contest.”
“Mpumalanga have struggled up until now but they beat the Tuskers over the weekend. What that does is basically show us that no team is weak and no team is unbeatable, unfortunately for us. So every team is strong in this division. Anybody can beat anybody,” the coach said.
NC Heat’s outstanding and exciting batsman Ivan Jones who, despite their eight-wicket loss to SWD a fortnight ago, had delivered a superb performance with that 150-run knock in that match.
Jones was modest about his chances for selection this time around, saying only: “Hopefully I’ve done enough to deserve selection. But yes, they (NC Heat) are an absolutely brilliant team. When selection time comes it’s always tough, so let’s see what happens.”
Jones, a former Pretoria resident, turned out for Northerns before he joined the Kimberley side and dismissed speculation that he might jump ship anytime soon. “At this stage, I’m loving my cricket over here. It’s a great environment to be involved in. The team we have here is great. It doesn’t feel like you’re far away from home.”
Meanwhile, somebody who is keenly looking forward to next weekend’s fixture is NC Heat’s No.3 batsman Isaac Dikgale.
The Soweto-born player said he was keen on getting his sixth selection since he joined the provincial side from the North West. He has been averaging 40 runs per match and was aiming to breach the half-ton and century marks.
Next week’s game is scheduled to run from March 3-6.
However, in this coming weekend’s only fixture the high-flying SWD team will take to the field against Eastern Cape Inyathi in Oudtshoorn. Next weekend, While the NC Heat and Rhinos slug it out in Kimberley, the Tuskers will clash with the Limpopo Impalas in Pietermaritzburg in the other four-day game.
