CENTURION – Durban Heat will be looking to register their first win of the Mzansi Super League when they face the Tshwane Spartans in Centurion on Thursday.
The Heat lost to the Cape Town Blitz in the side’s first full game of the competition over the weekend, following rain-outs in their first two matches at Kingsmead.
The Heat might have been slightly ring-rusty but the performance from Wihan Lubbe was more than encouraging as the left-hander blasted 83 from 42 balls at number three in the order.
The Blitz also have one of the strongest bowling attacks in the competition, with Dale Steyn, Wahab Riaz and Anrich Nortjie spear-heading their attack, but Lubbe looked right at home against the pacemen.
"It gives me a lot of confidence going forward knowing that I can compete at this level," the 26-year-old Lubbe said. "I have proven to myself that I can compete at lower levels, but to come here and do well at a higher level means a huge amount to me.
"To be given this opportunity is all that younger players can ask for, and it's important that we use this opportunity and platform to show what we can achieve."
Lubbe will be hoping that he can receive some support from the rest of the batting lineup in their match on Thursday.
The Heat bowlers conceded ten extras between them in the opening game and will want to produce a more polished performance with the ball in their second game. Experienced seamer Kyle Abbott was still happy with the performance given the lack of match practice.
"I think to run the Blitz that close after not playing was encouraging," he said. "It was against a team that had four games under their belt and were top of the table so there were definitely positives to come out of that.
"We are just wanting to build on that and we hope that we can put in a better performance on Thursday evening.
"Centurion is a special place for me, having made my Test debut here almost seven years ago so there are great memories."
Seamers Marco Jansen and Daryn Dupavillon have been under an injury cloud but have both been declared fit for selection going into Thursday clash.