COACH Dave Nosworthy says he is under no illusions that the bizhub Highveld Lions will enter the Standard Bank Pro20 domestic cricket final as clear underdogs.

The Lions face the Chevrolet Warriors on Friday night in the first cricket final at St George’s in 18 years.

“I think we’re the underdogs going in. There’s no doubt about that in terms of names on paper,” said Nosworthy yesterday.

But the former Grey High and Westview club cricketer says his team will not be over-awed by the fact that the Warriors have eight full internationals and in-form players like Colin Ingram and Rusty Theron in their ranks.

“We haven’t played the man the whole tournament. We’ve played the ball and that’s the way it’s got to be,” said Nosworthy.

The Lions saw off the more-fancied and star-studded Nashua Titans in consecutive semi-final victories to qualify for the final. It was a brave effort from a team that seems to be growing in confidence with every match.

“I think it’s the same situation as with the Titans. The Warriors players are all quality cricketers and we respect them fully. We do respect them for their abilities and their skills. But we can’t go into any game worrying about that. We’ve got to focus on what we do best and hopefully the rest will sort itself out.”

The Lions’ recent revival in fortunes seems to have coincided with the decision to pull the captaincy from Neil McKenzie and hand it to Thami Tsolekile.

But Nosworthy said he doubted whether that was the sole reason.

“I don’t think it’s that specifically, to be honest. I think we needed a change in chemistry and the leadership and that was what we did. You know Neil (McKenzie) has been brilliant. He’s lost the captaincy, he’s dealt with it superbly well, like a mature professional would, and he’s contributed with the bat.

“I don’t think it’s had a direct impact, but it’s obviously played some sort of role.

“Thami (Tsolekile) has done a helluva job and the boys are enjoying where they are at the moment.”

Nosworthy says the Lions have always enjoyed playing at St George’s and that the ground held no fear for them.

“We’ve been there before, where we’ve played quite well, in the recent past, so it’s not a ground that we’re afraid of. We embrace it and enjoy it and the band and the atmosphere actually gets us a little hyped up.

“We know we’re up against the wall playing away from home. We’ve been written off a few times this season, which we actually like so hopefully we can be the underdogs and fight the good fight and come through again.”