MI Cape Town would be hoping to bounce back to winning ways after suffering a loss at the hands of Paarl Royals when they take on Durban’s Super Giants at the Newlands Cricket Ground in Cape Town on Tuesday.
MICT is in a precarious position in the league standings as Keiron Pollard has lost three of the first five matches in his captaincy reign in the SA20 and would certainly be looking to correct that against DSG.
Durban’s Super Giants will be buoyed by defeating MI Cape Town earlier in the SA20 season. However, they ended up on the losing side in the last two encounters and would look to get back to winning ways.
Current Form
MI Cape Town is placed fourth in the 2024 SA20 points table, having won only two matches so far. They breached the 170-run mark in all their matches barring the last one.
Against Paarl Royals in their previous fixture, Sam Curran and Kagiso Rabada came back empty-handed on a bowling-friendly pitch with Nuwan Thushara picking up two wickets. MI Cape Town stumbled at 103 while chasing 163 as only four batters were able to score in double digits.
MI Cape Town’s fiery starts have been mostly because of the aggressive batting style of Ryan Rickelton and Rassie van der Dussen, both of whom feature in the top five run-getters of the SA20 season. If they get going, there is no stopping MICT.
Durban’s Super Giants are placed second in the points table with three wins from five matches. Wiaan Mulder’s half-century propelled them to a score of 159-7 against Sunrisers Eastern Cape but it was chased down with four balls to spare. Marcus Stoinis and Keshav Maharaj were the only two bowlers to keep their economy under 7 runs an over in their previous match.
Prior to that, they fell short by 17 runs while chasing a target of 205 by Pretoria Capitals. Reece Topley’s three-wicket haul went in vain as the batters couldn’t procure runs at a faster rate. Maharaj and Dwaine Pretorius tried their best in the death overs but their 29-run partnership from 17 balls came in a losing cause.
Head to Head record
The two sides have faced each other three times in the past with Durban’s Super Giants coming out on top on all the occasions. In their first ever encounter last season, Grant Roelofsen’s 52 run knock from 44 balls took MI Cape Town to a score of 12-8 which was comfortably chased by the Super Giants with 21 balls to spare. Heinrich Klaasen’s 36 runs off 22 balls made light work of the chase.
In a final over thriller later last season, Matthew Bretzke hit Duan Jansen for a six in the penultimate ball of the match to help them chase 166 runs. Quinton de Kock had already given the Super Giants a fiery start with his 63-run knock from 41 balls.
In a rain-curtailed match, the Super Giants were above the par score of 166 when the weather had the last laugh. Heinrich Klaasen was the star of the match with his 85-run knock from 35 balls cruising them to a win. None of Beuren Hendricks, Kagiso Rabada, Olly Stone, and Liam Livingstone were spared as Klaasen struck eight sixes in his short stint at the crease.
Team News
Dewald Brevis has been performing underwhelmingly in the last five matches with his highest score coming at only 10. MI Cape Town is overdependent on Rickelton and van der Dussen and would like some change in the crucial No.3 position. We might see Delano Potgieter replace him up the order.
An extra spinner, Waqar Salamkheil can come in handy for MI Cape Town against the Super Giants to stop the threat of Heinrich Klaasen. Liam Livingstone has failed to make the most of his bowling abilities this SA20 season and has not lived up to his billing with the bat as well.
For DSG, the departure of Richard Gleeson and Nicholas Pooran is hurting them and Junior Dala could come back into the starting line-up to replace Naveen-ul-Haq.
Key Players
Ryan Rickelton has amassed 337 runs from his first four innings this SA20 season
Ryan Rickelton: Ryan Rickelton is the tournament’s leading run scorer with 342 runs from five innings. Averaging a mammoth 85.5 runs per match, he is yet to score a century for MI Cape Town.
However, on Tuesday, he would be eager to complete his maiden century in SA20 but would need support from the other end.
Heinrich Klaasen: Heinrich Klaasen has the third-highest strike rate in the SA20 this season at a figure of 190.19. However, he is the only player in the league to have a strike rate of over 190 and average at over 45 runs per match.
Klaasen’s form is crucial for the Super Giants as he failed to get going in the last two matches and the team ended up on the losing side.
Predicted XIs
MI Cape Town: Ryan Rickelton (wk), Rassie van der Dussen, Delano Potgieter, Connor Esterhuizen, Sam Curran, Kieron Pollard ©, Waqar Salamkheil, George Linde, Thomas Kaber, Kagiso Rabada, Nuwan Thushara
Durban’s Super Giants: Matthew Breetzke, Quinton de Kock (wk), JJ Smuts, Heinrich Klaasen, Marcus Stoinis, Wiaan Mulder, Dwaine Pretorius, Keshav Maharaj ©, Junior Dala, Reece Topley, Noor Ahmad
Prediction
With both teams coming from a loss, no one has the momentum on their side but MI Cape Town has the home advantage in their favor and that might stretch them over the line this time. Stopping Klaasen would be crucial for them and MI Cape Town would have surely done their homework this time.