Natal are firm Favourites

The Boland team come to Kingsmead this morning for their SuperSport Series match against Natal without their old tag of being a sub-standard batting side.

After several woeful displays at the crease last season - they averaged just one batting point per match as they finished bottom of the SuperSport Series - Boland have been boosted by the arrival of two top-class internationals in Pravin Amre and Louis Koen.

The last time the 31-year-old Amre played at Kingsmead was in 1992, when he made his Test debut for India, and he duly scored a century, ignoring the pressures of coming in at 38 for four and facing the likes of Allan Donald, Brett Schultz and Brian McMillan on a pitch typically helpful to the pacemen.

Koen, who has played two limited-overs internationals for the national team, has been one of the most dominant batsmen of the decade in domestic cricket and has the ability to take charge of an attack with his sparkling strokeplay.

The former Eastern Province star made his presence felt in last weekend's SuperSport Series opener, scoring 74 as Boland marched to a total in excess of 400 against Free State, Kenny Jackson (106), James Henderson (60) and Bradley Player (46) following his example and also getting in on the act.

Not that the Boland batsmen can expect an easy time at Kingsmead over the next four days. The Natal attack has plenty of sting and, back on home turf rather than the concrete slab in Potchefstroom, Shaun Pollock and Lance Klusener are capable of running through any batting line-up, while Ross Veenstra, the left-arm paceman, has been in wonderful form since returning from Gauteng after leaving Natal in 1996.

Certainly, with the likes of Jonty Rhodes, Dale Benkenstein, Andrew Hudson and Doug Watson also in prime form with the bat, it would be a shock of atom bomb proportions for local fans if Natal had to start their home campaign with a painful defeat.

While Boland can be expected to put up excellent opposition, one feels Natal's team of stars will have to play particularly badly to lose.

Doug Watson, Mark Bruyns, Andrew Hudson, Dale Benkenstein (capt), Jonty Rhodes, Errol Stewart, Ahmed Amla, Shaun Pollock, Lance Klusener, Eldine Baptiste, Ross Veenstra, Robbie Macqueen.

James Henderson, Craig Wilson, Louis Koen, Pravin Amre, Kenny Jackson (capt), Justin Ontong, Steve Palframan, Bradley Player, Donovan Koch, Henry Williams, Charl Willoughby, Charl Langeveldt, Doug Gain, Stuart McConnachie.