Stiaan van Zyl all set for Pro20

They have three games in six days to complete the league phase of their Pro20 campaign, and the Cape Cobras will have to do it without the services of kingpins Herschelle Gibbs and Charl Langeveldt.

The Cobras will face the Dolphins at Newlands on Saturday and the Eagles at Paarl next Wednesday, before rounding off their league programme two days later by taking on MTN 40 champs, the Warriors, in Port Elizabeth.

Gibbs and Langeveldt, both members of the national one-day squad, will leave for India on Saturday morning to join the Proteas in Kolkata.

Their absence is described by coach Shukri Conrad as a "big loss" but the affect on the Cobras is softened somewhat by the fact that the Dolphins' big-hitting opener Loots Bosman will be on the same plane to India with the Cape duo.

Gibbs' spot will probably be filled by left-hander Stiaan van Zyl, who's had a superb run in the MTN 40 in 2010, scoring 412 runs in nine innings at an average of 41.80.

As far as Langeveldt's replacement is concerned, some thinking on the make-up of the seam-bowling division will take place and it is possible that captain Justin Kemp will be asked to assume the role of the fourth seamer. In this event, Sybrand Engelbrecht could come into the equation.

In a format in which spin has proved a dangerous weapon, Engelbrecht's off-breaks would be a useful addition to the "offies" of Justin Ontong and the left-arm spin of Robin Peterson in the Cobras' armoury. The spring-heeled young blond is also deadly in the field and a useful lower-order batsman.

Conrad is committed to giving Van Zyl opportunities to develop in all three formats of the game.

"Stiaan's game is expanding all the while - and proper cricket shots still count for a lot at the top of the order," said Conrad. "Our top three will likely comprise Andrew Puttick, Henry Davids and Stiaan."

That permutation would see Robin Peterson, who opened for the Cobras against the Lions at Newlands on Friday, being employed in the "floater" role in the order.

Conrad sees winning all home games in the Pro20 as the minimum requirement for making the semi-finals. Certainly the Cobras have the batsmen to put sizeable totals on the board but victories will generally be secured by good bowling performances.

And, even though the game against the Titans - a defeat by 17 runs - was shortened to 12 overs apiece due to a thunderstorm on Sunday, the Cobras were below-par with the ball.

"Bowlers win you these games because the format favours batters so heavily," said Conrad. "A bowler like Monde Zondeki needs to be one of the guys to lead the pack now that Charl is going to be away.

"As well as Gulam Bodi batted - he scored 88 not out off 44 balls - we did not bowl well, and you don't do that against top sides. That performance was disappointing but you can't dwell on it. You have to be matter-of-fact and get it out of your system quickly," added the Cobras coach.

On Wednesday the Dolphins will take on the Eagles in Durban and will want to get their first win of the competition under their belts before they visit Cape Town. If they don't, the Durban side will have collected only two points from three games and will face a battle making the last four.

Wednesday's other game, between the Titans and the Lions, has been moved from Benoni to the Wanderers.