Kieron Pollard’s MI Cape Town will be visiting Gqeberha to face Sunrisers Eastern Cape in the 2024 SA20 on Saturday. MI Cape Town is currently in the fourth spot in the SA20 table with nine points in six matches, while the Sunrisers have garnered 15 points after six games, securing the third spot, as of now.
Pretoria Capitals defeated the Sunrisers in their last fixture and closed the gap on MICT as the Keiron Pollard-led side was breathing in space but will now have the pressure of the Capitals sneaking up the league standings.
On the other hand, the Sunrisers would be hoping to finish as one of the two top sides in the league standings after 10 fixtures as the IPL-esque playoff system will be followed in the 2024 edition of the SA20.
What have they done so far?
Sunrisers Eastern Cape’s first match of the 2024 edition was abandoned against Joburg Super Kings at the St. George’s Oval. Hence, starting their campaign against Durban’s Super Giants, they suffered a throbbing 35-run defeat despite a valiant performance from the batting line-up.
In their third match, they visited the Newlands Cricket Ground and handed MI Cape Town a home defeat by a margin of four runs. Jordan Hermann’s century (106* off 62) was the highlight of the match. They kept their winning form going with two consecutive victories against Durban’s Super Giants and Pretoria Capitals.
Nevertheless, their winning streak was broken by a revenge-seeking Pretoria Capitals at the SuperSport Park. In a low-scoring contest, the Capital’s bowling restricted the Sunrisers to a total of 122, as they lost the match by three runs.
On the other side, MI Cape Town started their campaign with an 11-run defeat against Durban’s Super Kings by the DLS method. However, in the second match, they recorded a dominant win over the likes of Joburg Super Kings with a margin of 98 runs, which was powered by the opening partnership of Rassie van der Dussen (104) and Ryan Rickelton (98).
In the third game, they lost a home game against Sunrisers Eastern Cape by four runs. However, MI Cape Town then broke the Paarl Royals’ winning streak by defeating them at the Newlands Cricket Ground. Nevertheless, MICT has failed to record a single victory in their last two matches against Paarl Royals and Durban’s Super Giants.
Head to Head Record
Sunrisers Eastern Cape and MI Cape Town have locked horns against each other on only three occasions. Last season, the two sides played against each other twice and both games were won by the Sunrisers.
Moreover, the Sunrisers kept their unbeaten streak strong against MICT with a win by four runs in the first meeting of the 2024 SA20 season too. Consequently, MI Cape Town is yet to win a game against the Sunrisers Eastern Cape.
Key Players
Daniel Worrall (Sunrisers Eastern Cape): Sunrisers Eastern Cape’s last two games have been low-scoring and Daniel Worrall has never failed to give a praiseworthy performance. The Australian bowler has picked up 11 wickets in five matches. His best performance came against Pretoria Capitals, where he took three wickets, conceding only 22 runs.
Ryan Rickelton (MI Cape Town): Ryan Rickelton has been in stellar form for MI Cape Town in the 2024 SA20. In the last two matches, the batting line-up of Cape Town has failed to work as a unit. Moreover, Rickelton, who is still the top scorer of the SA20, has scored only 18 runs in his last two innings.
Rickelton is the top scorer of the 2024 SA20 with 355 runs
Nevertheless, the South African batter will be playing a major role for MICT as he has already scored four half-centuries. With an average of 71, Rickelton has scored 355 runs in six matches. Apart from him, Rassie van der Dussen has scored 229 runs with an average of 38 in six matches.
Predicted XIs
Sunrisers Eastern Cape: Adam Rossington (wk), Dawid Malan, Jordan Hermann, Aiden Markram ©, Tristan Stubbs, Patrick Kruger, Marco Jansen, Liam Dawson, Beyers Swanepoel, Simon Harmer, Daniel Worrall
MI Cape Town: Rassie van der Dussen, Ryan Rickleton (wk), Connor Esterhuizen, Dewald Brevis, Liam Livingstone, Sam Curran, Kieron Pollard ©, George Linde, Kagiso Rabada, Thomas Kaber, Nuwan Thushara
Prediction
Both Sunrisers Eastern Cape and MI Cape Town would be desperate for a win on Saturday and both sides would be hoping their faltering middle-order players return to form as the seamers of both sides would be boosted against out-of-form batters.