The Eastern Cape Iinyathi will be out to get their first win in their One-Day title defence against the Knights at the Mangaung Oval in Bloemfontein on Thursday (10am).
This was after their opening game loss by 83 runs to the CSA Emerging team in East London at the weekend.
Redemption is on their minds ahead of the game.
They will not only be correcting errors from the game four days ago but will also be determined to erase the nightmare from when last they were in the City of Roses.
In November, the Iinyathi suffered a crushing blow when they lost the CSA T20 Division 2 final to the Knights.
Though that game was a final, the team will want to bounce back and get one over their hosts.
A skew result against the Knights, who will be playing in Division One next season based on the combined formats log, will put the East London side at a disadvantage.
They are already at the bottom of the table, and a big-margin loss will further damage their knockout stage aspirations, though it is early days.
The Knights and Iinyathi have only crossed paths once in the 50-over format, and that was in 2023.
In that meeting, the Knights reigned supreme with a five-wicket victory.
To boost their preparations, the Iinyathi team travelled to the Free State on Tuesday to acclimatise to the conditions.
On Wednesday, they had a light session, tying up the finer details.
The weather in Bloemfontein is expected to be hot on Thursday.
This often plays to an advantage for teams batting first, as the surface is generally hard and flat, rewarding stroke-makers who can hit through the line.
In contrast, it will be slightly harder for bowlers if they do not get wickets in the first powerplay.
The first 10 to 15 overs often provide movement and swing but after that there is little assistance.
Against the Emerging team, Iinyathi did not get off to a good start with the ball.
They only got their first wicket just close to 10 overs.
The same can be said about the recognised batters, who did not create a solid platform for the lower and middle order.
Top-order batter Christiaan du Toit said execution was the priority.
“We know what went wrong in the CSA Emerging game, it was small stuff and we have identified the areas.
“It was not that we were bad but we lacked execution in some moments, which we are keen to fix.
“Yes, the Knights are a good team, but we have to go all out and play for the badge,” he said.
The Knights beat the Limpopo Impalas in their first game by a similar margin to CSA Emerging against Iinyathi.
Their batters scored 300-plus.
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