Johannesburg – Highveld Lions skipper Alviro Petersen believes his team still has plenty of room for improvement despite having qualified for the Twenty20 Champions League semi-finals.
“I still believe we played at about 75 percent in all three games that we won and, in fact, the one that we lost,” Petersen said on Saturday in Johannesburg after the Lions defeated Yorkshire by five wickets.
The Lions also beat the Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings in earlier clashes to secure their place in the semi-finals, while losing to Australian outfit Sydney Sixers, who topped the group.
“I know if everyone brings their ‘A’ game and is running at 90 percent, we will start dominating teams,” Petersen said.
“We’ve won big moments in the games and done really well as a unit which was key for us – to focus on the unit rather than the individuals.
“Guys have stepped up at different times and I don’t think we’ve dropped a catch in this tournament thus far.”
Jean Symes, who steered the Lions to victory against Yorkshire with an unbeaten 27 after a slow start, said staying calm was important during the tense run chase.
“The first thing was to try and keep calm, almost backing yourself to know that you are going to win it,” Symes said.
“Credit to some of the bowlers, who made it a bit harder for us.
“Thami (Tsolekile) and myself, we just kept on going and said ‘we need bat on here, a run a ball and the boundaries will come’.”
Petersen said the Lions would appreciate the rest while the other semi-finalists were decided elsewhere in the tournament.
“We’ve played four games in eight days,” Petersen said.
“This time, we’ll definitely need to take a couple of days off.”
Yorkshire skipper Andrew Gale said the Lions were capable of beating anyone on their day, but cited the Sixers as the team to beat in the competition.
“What I’ve seen of the Sydney side shows they’ve got all bases covered,” Gale said.
“The Lions should’ve really won at a canter today and I'm sure, had we been playing against Sydney, they would’ve done so.” – Sapa