Gqeberha — Gerald Coetzee’s Test debut for the Proteas has left the Knights with a newly-found belief and inspiration to close out the season on a high, despite being the first team to be relegated from division one.
The national selection of Gerald Coetzee has been groundbreaking, but also unexpected for some fans in South Africa. For his teammates at the Knights, it was not unexpected at all. More than anything, Coetzee’s call-up has fuelled the fire in his teammates at the Knights.
Having had a horrific season across all three formats, the Knights are almost guaranteed to be relegated to play in division two from next season. Following Coetzee’s call-up and one-on-one meetings between Free State Cricket chief executive, Johan van Heerden, and the players to review the season, the Knights have looked a totally different team.
They have vowed to play for their region, which is rich in cricketing history having produced greats like Allan Donald and Hansie Cronje.
Consequently, the Knights handed the Warriors a 161-run defeat at St George’s Park in the Cricket SA 4-Day Series on Wednesday. This was the Knight’s first victory and the Warriors’ first defeat in this season’s competition.
A 23-year-old Nhlakanipho Mpungose (2/35 and 4/46) and Patrick Kruger (81 & 5/21) were key players in the victory.
“The motivation was for us to do something special for the Free State region, despite us being where we are on the log,” said Mpungose in an exclusive interview with IOL Sport.
“Seeing him (Coetzee) get the call-up and now his Test debut has really inspired us and has also injected belief in us as a team that we all can still make it. Some of our players who played in the SA20, who really instilled belief in every player in the side that we actually have what it takes to go as far as we want, it’s just about working hard.”
The Knights have caused a huge upset this week and stand a chance to cause a few more in the remaining fixtures.
IOL Sport