Zondeki, Du Preez slug it out for top spot

The SuperSport Series title is almost certainly on its way to Bloemfontein, but Mondé Zondeki and Dillon du Preez will have other matters on their minds when the Cape Cobras take on the Diamond Eagles in Kimberley on Thursday.

Cobras fast bowler Zondeki has ripped batsmen from the crease with something approaching impunity this season, as his 51 victims in the competition attest.

Du Preez has performed similarly impressively, and - as the scriptwriters would have it going into the last round of the competition - he has also taken 51 wickets.

Zondeki and Du Preez top the list of wicket-takers, with the Dolphins' Johann Louw in third place on 40.

Which means the real Battle of the Big Hole over the next four days will concern whether Zondeki or Du Preez will end up as the competition's leading bowler for the 2007-08 season.

"I suppose we will be watching what the other is doing, to see who is going to take the most wickets," Zondeki said from Kimberley on Wednesday evening, where the weather was a touch unsettled.

"Actually, we had a bit of a chat this afternoon, but it was just small talk."

Zondeki was confident going into the match at the De Beers Diamond Oval, but he won't be looking to his previous matches in the city for inspiration.

"I haven't done that well here," he said. "Last time I took a wicket with a no-ball, and I had two catches dropped in the slips. But I'm hoping that my luck will change."

The Cape franchise bounced back from a low-key start to the competition to win their last three matches.

That will not be enough to put them in the running for the championship, but it is a marked improvement from last season when they failed to win a four-day match.

The hat trick of victories has also bolstered the Cape side ahead of the MTN Domestic Championship, which starts next month.

"We've had a really good run, and even though we can't win this competition the form we have shown will take us into the one-day competition on a high," Zondeki said.

"We have something really good to build on going into the one-day competition."

It's a case of one more time with feeling for the Cobras going into this match, and on current form there is every reason to believe that win No 4 is no pipe dream.

- In the other matches starting on Thursday, the Dolphins are at home to the Warriors in Pietermaritzburg and the Highveld Lions take on the Titans in Potchefstroom.