Standard Bank League: KwaZulu-Natal v Border, Preview

Graham Ford begins his last weekend coaching the Natal cricket team with a Standard Bank League day/night game against Border in East London Friday and he will know that a win will be necessary if his temporary successor, Ian Tayfield, is to be guaranteed a place in the Standard Bank Cup.

Tayfield, a Natal spinner in the 1970s, will take over when Ford leaves for New Zealand and his new job as assistant coach of the national squad on February 9.

A Natal side with an interesting mixture of youth and battle-hardened experience will take on Border, and Western Province on Sunday at Kingsmead, knowing that two wins should see them finish in the top five on the log and guaranteed of a place in the Cup quarter-finals.

Recent Maritzburg College pupils Grant Rowley and Kevin Pieterson join old boys Mark Bruyns, Doug Watson and Anthony Botha and fellow U20s Wade Wingfield and Jon Kent.

Errol Stewart will captain the side in the absence of Dale Benkenstein, who is in the national squad along with fellow Natalians Jonty Rhodes, Shaun Pollock and Lance Klusener, while Andrew Hudson will return to the opener's spot in the team.

The Border team will feature two former Natalians - batsman Craig Sugden and paceman Tyrone Henderson - who, given their tremendous successes since moving to East London, could certainly have helped the Dolphins in their troubled season.

Playing Border in East London is always a daunting task and Natal will need all the help they can get against a side that now boasts a fine pace attack in Henderson, Vasbert Drakes and Makhaya Ntini.

Ntini will be particularly keen to impress the day after he was left out of the national team to tour New Zealand, as will Border's hard-hitting, but underrated batsmen, Wayne Wiblin and Pieter Strydom.

The age-old saying about limited-overs cricket being impossible to predict is certainly true, but the fact remains that Natal will have done exceedingly well to travel to East London and return triumphant against a confident and well-equipped side.

The Standard Bank League's main game today is the top-of-the-log clash between Gauteng and Northerns at the Wanderers.

Squads

Border: Brad White, Wayne Wiblin, Piet Botha, Pieter Strydom (capt), Craig Sugden, Steven Pope, George Hammond, Ian Mitchell, Vasbert Drakes, Tyrone Henderson, Makhaya Ntini, Brenden Fourie (12th man).

Natal: Doug Watson, Andrew Hudson, Errol Stewart (capt), Mark Bruyns, Jon Kent, Grant Rowley, Wade Wingfield, Anthony Botha, Keith Storey, Jannie Dreyer, Gary Gilder, Kevin Pieterson.