Fearless cricket has led to rattling run-fests in the re-designed one-day competition and one of the standout performers has been the Cape Cobras’ middle-order “finisher” Justin Ontong.
The Cobras play their final pool game against the Dolphins at Newlands tomorrow, and will be out to stay top of the standings and, in so doing, clinch a home final next Friday.
The availability of several international players means a painful omission for a couple of regulars, but Ontong says the attitude about this in the squad is good.
Personally, he has taken up where he left off last summer and continued a hot streak which has helped turn around the Cobras’ fortunes in the 50-over competition (played over 40 overs in 2010/11).
“After last season, we assessed our shortcomings in the format, and we wanted to make up for that showing,”explains Ontong. “We have a quality squad... and the longer the format the more teams will be found out if they don’t have quality players.”
And it may sound like a cliche, but Ontong is right when he says the Cobras, blessed with impressive depth, have delivered a good team performance in the One-day Cup.
He has been one of those who regularly “puts up his hand” and with the bat has helped pilot the team to a record of six wins in nine league games, with only one defeat.
“With a young baby now, I try to make sure that in my reduced preparation time I put in quality practice. I’m on a good run; I must appreciate it and hope it continues.”
The pretty good run Ontong refers to includes 285 runs at an average of 95.00 in three SuperSport Series games to date, and three half-centuries in the One-day Cup, including a best of 86 against the Knights in Paarl.
A superb runner between the wickets, Ontong’s role in the middle-order is to score at a run a ball, and rotate the strike. “It’s like the role Jonty Rhodes used to play for South Africa,” he says.
Several big totals have been attained in the competition and Ontong puts that down to “fearless” cricket. “There used to be a dead period in the middle of innings... now the okes are looking for boundaries. It has a lot to do with the amount of T20 cricket being played.
“Wickets around the country have changed. At the Wanderers and Centurion you get ‘belters’ where it is no surprise to get 300-plus totals. But even at the coastal venues you get that now. Credit must go to the groundsmen for laying on some good pitches.”
The Dolphins cannot make the play-offs even if they win tomorrow, and they will reflect ruefully on the fact that their campaign has been ruined by the rain factor. Four of their 10 round-robin matches have ended as no-results due to rain.
The Dolphins will have to make do without the services of Protea Hashim Amla, currently the world’s top 50-overs batsman. Amla is nursing a forearm injury inflicted by Australia’s Mitchell Johnson in the recent Test series.
The KZN team, nevertheless, still have a strong batting component, with wicketkeeper Daryn Smit top of the One-day Cup averages (323 runs at 80.75), and the likes of Loots Bosman and David Miller in the ranks. - Cape Argus