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Warriors have One Day Cup destiny in own hands

Cape Town - Head coach Rivash Gobind is happy that the Warriors have their One-Day Cup destiny still in their own hands heading into the final week of the regular season. 

The Eastern Cape franchise welcome the winless Knights to Buffalo Park in East London on Friday, knowing they must try and win two if not three of their remaining games should they wish to host a semi-final. 

The Warriors are presently second with 18 points, five points behind the Titans, while a host of teams are breathing down their necks. 

Gobind is hoping for a strong finish.

"It’s really tight at the moment," he said.

"I think there’s a lot of good teams in terms of balance now in this competition, so we’re grateful that we control our own destiny. 

"If we keep playing the way we have then I'm very confident going into these last three games, starting with Friday night." 

To have a chance against the Knights, they will have to snap a two-game losing streak, having suffered back-to-back losses to the Titans.

"We were pretty close in both of them," Gobind lamented.

"We probably should have won the last one, though, but that’s cricket and we accept it.

"We have to now move on from those losses. The thing is for the latter parts of those two losses we played good cricket, so we’re very happy with where we are right now." 

The Knights sit in an even worse position heading into the game. They have failed to win any of their six matches thus far, although two have been washed out by the elements. 

Still, coach Alan Kruger sees room for optimism.

"With four games to go, I think our play-off chances are slowly drifting away," he says.

"We’re obviously going to need help from a few other teams now and a couple of bonus points along the way as well to hopefully get us in the running again. 

"But I have seen weirder things happening before, so we’ve not given up just yet. And we know if the writing is on the wall, then so be it.

"There’s still a lot to play for no matter which way you look at it. We’re not just going to lie down. We want to still win as many games as possible." 

Apart from a nine-wicket loss to the Titans on the opening weekend of the season, the Central Franchise have suffered three other narrow losses.

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