All Cobras men ready to strike

Team selection is going to be a headache for the Cape Cobras on Monday as they take on the Delhi Daredevils in their final league match in the Champions League in Delhi.

The Cobras are already through to the semi-finals but victory for them against Delhi on Monday will see them top League A and play the NSW Blues in the first semi-final in Delhi on Wednesday.

If the Cobras lose on Monday they will finish second in League B and play in the second semi-final against Trinidad and Tobago in Hyderabad on Thursday. The final will be played in Hyderabad on Friday.

All 15 members of the squad have strong claims on places in the team after an explosives scare at Bangalore before their eight-wicket victory over the Victorian Bushrangers on Saturday meant a couple of fringe players saw their first action of the event and did well.

After the drama of the arrest of a young touring Indian player at the stadium in Bangalore, which appears to have been a false alarm, the Cobras match started 100 minutes late, with star batsman Herschelle Gibbs opting out because the incident had adversely affected his mental state.

Hard-hitting Derek Brand (who also kept wicket) stepped into the breach as opener and lashed 29 off 15 balls to get his side off to a great start, and they chased down 125 with an over to spare.

Gibbs had scored one and a duck in his two Champions League innings but, as the proven international player, will probably replace Brand on Monday.

Fast bowler Monde Zondeki had been in line to be dropped for Charl Langeveldt on Saturday, but the delayed start meant that the latter, returning from a shoulder injury, could not be risked without an adequate warm-up period. Zondeki promptly grabbed two wickets in the first over of the match to help set up the win.

A third fresh face, SA Engelbrecht, played in Saturday's game but, although his fielding skills are valued, he could make way for wicketkeeper Ryan Canning to return.

The selectors will want to get ring-wise Langeveldt into the starting line-up on Monday but does he replace an in-form Zondeki, or one of the other seamers in Rory Kleinveldt or Vernon Philander, who have batting credentials to back their claims for retention?

Fast bowler Francois Plaatjies is the only member of the squad not to have played a game yet. Last week coach Shukri Conrad suggested the paceman might be an option for Delhi, which has played lower and slower than the other two tournament venues.

What was good about Saturday's win was that the Cobras retained winning momentum despite a week off. And Henry Davids' fine 69 not out, the third match-winning innings by a different individual, showed the side has the depth and potential to go all the way.