WP back up to fifth on log

Western Province have moved back to a more respectable place on the Standard Bank Cup cricket log after collecting the full five points for beating Griquas on Wednesday.

The four potential semifinal spots are held by Eastern Province (12 points from three matches), Easterns (nine from two), Titans (nine from three) and Free State (eight from two).

Province are best of the rest with seven (from three), although the Highveld Strikers are technically in a better position with four points from their only appearance.

Attention now switches to the four-day Supersport Series, which starts on Friday with the Strikers, the defending champions, taking on Griquas at the Wanderers.

Province have a tough start away to Eastern Province next weekend while Boland are at home to Free State.

Acting captain Alan Dawson gave particular credit to Gary Kirsten for his role in the Griqua win after two disappointing defeats against the Titans and North West.

"He has a tremendously calming influence on the side," he said. "One of our problems has been that we have been a bit too tense so far. I think we have learned some important lessons from our first two defeats and we must make sure that we don't make the same mistakes again.

"For instance, we let Griquas score too many runs on Wednesday, even though we won easily. We must learn to finish people off when we have them down."

The match was a personal triumph for Dawson, who had his best ever day-night return of 5-13.

"I was lucky that the ball swung so much," he remarked with typical modesty. "Using only one ball this summer has made a huge difference and that is one of the reasons why the team totals have been that much higher.

"On these flat surfaces, the ball is now pretty well messed up after 10 overs and stops swinging. The Kimberley experience was an exception."

The next round of club fixtures will be played on Saturday and Sunday, which means that all the provincial players can put in some solid time in the middle as they switch from one-day to four-day mode.