Western Province expect Titans to come out guns blazing at Newlands, says Verreynne

Western Province captain Kyle Verreynne is looking forward to a stretch of home games to keep their 1-Day Cup campaign flickering. 

The defending champions, who went seven games unbeaten last season to lift the trophy, have been rather inconsistent thus far. They have won just one out of three matches and are currently on five points to sit in sixth position on the table. 

However, they have two consecutive matches at Newlands against the Titans (on Wednesday) and Dolphins (Sunday) to get back into semi-final contention.

 “Two back-to-back home games I think is always really exciting. We've been on the road now for the last game, so it's good to come home and get to play in front of our home crowd,” Verreynne said.

“I think hopefully that gives us a little bit of momentum that we need in the competition and I think also playing in conditions that we're quite familiar with will hopefully be a big boost.

“It's quite important that we get our campaign back on track and I think two back-to-back home games is really positive for us. I think like I mentioned, we're just going to try and keep things simple for the upcoming week. 

“We know where we've gone wrong, so it's just about trying to rectify that in our preparations with our last practice for Wednesday's game and hopefully try and get the ball rolling again.”

The Titans are in an equally desperate position, having failed to register a single win in their three matches thus far, but they will certainly be no pushovers at Newlands.

The Centurion-based side boast some of the most destructive players in South African domestic cricket, most notably the in-form Dewald Brevis. The Titans youngster smashed a 72- ball 102 in his last innings against the Lions and will welcome a return to his adopted home after helping MI Cape Town to their first-ever Betway SA20 title earlier this month. 

“Titans are always a good side. I think they've also been a bit unlucky with where they're in this competition, so they also need to start picking up results. I think as you always can  with the Titans, I think we're going to expect them to come out guns blazing and with a lot of energy,” Verreynne said.

“They've got a few guys playing nicely in their side, so I imagine they'll put a lot of emphasis on those guys. But yeah, we're expecting quite a tough game, as it always is with the Titans. But yeah, hopefully we can come out on top.”

Province’s batters will be hoping, though, to maintain the pressure on the Titans bowling line-up that has conceded 300-plus runs in their last two matches.