Eastern Cape Iinyathi fast bowler Chad Classen believes the defending champions will rectify errors made in their CSA One-Day Division 2 group fixture, which they lost against the Knights, and turn the tables in the final in Kimberley on Sunday (10am).
The match was originally meant to be played at the Mangaung Oval in Bloemfontein, but the venue can’t host it anymore due to a social event at the ground on Saturday.
According to the hosts, the field would not be cleared and prepared by the time the game starts.
The Iinyathi will not mind that, because they recently enjoyed success there, beating the Northern Cape Heat convincingly at the weekend.
“I don’t know if it is the season but all the pitches whether coastal or inland have been the same, they are slow, hardly any of them have produced pace.
“We don’t think the final will be any different than when we last played at the ground seven days ago,” Classen said.
The last time the Knights and Iinyathi met was in the second round of the competition in February.
In that game, the Iinyathi succumbed to the Knights by 47 runs.
The bowling attack reduced the Knights to a sub-par score of 229, and despite having a 102-run opening stand in that chase, Iinyathi could not finish the job.
This time around, Classen says if they are to beat the Knights, their batting has to be in sync from top to tail.
The Knights have had a week to rest.
Their last game, against the Mpumalanga Rhinos, was rather disastrous as they were beaten by 176 runs.
By contrast, Iinyathi beat the Rhinos by six wickets with 13 overs to spare in the qualifier on Wednesday.
“The reason we lost that group game was due to the fact that we couldn’t score the runs. We did well with the ball.
“It will be key for us to be clinical in both departments against the Knights. They are a good side,” Classen said.
The teams also met in the T20 final late in 2025, a game the Knights won by just 11 runs on the reserve day after the initial final day was rained out.
The Iinyathi went with a batter short as Christiaan Du Toit was unavailable due to varsity examinations.
Du Toit will be available this time around.
Back then, Iinyathi were also missing Classen and Nico van Zyl due to injury, and the two have been instrumental in the One-Day Cup so far, especially up front with the new ball.
Classen described their partnership as similar to that of Dale Steyn and Vernon Philander for the Proteas.
Like Steyn, Van Zyl has been an aggressive strike bowler with the new ball, while Classen, like Philander, has been impeccably accurate.
Van Zyl is the leading wicket-taker in the competition with 19, and Classen has nine.
“We complement each other. If one of us goes for runs, our chat is that the other must hold it together.
“That has been working for us because we don’t want to let each other down, so we end up doing well both with the ball,” Classen said.
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