Tuesday, January 23, 2024: On January 23 at Newlands, MI Cape Town will play the Super Giants of Durban in the first game of the second half of the SA20 2024 group stages.
With two victories from their first five games, MICT is presently ranked fourth in the log standings; DSG is one spot higher with three victories from their first five games.
Both sides want to get back on track after losing their derbies over the weekend. Captain Kieron Pollard of MICT has already moved past the defeat against the Paarl Royals and is concentrating on the upcoming task.
“Hopefully, this is the only collapse for us going ahead, as every team in this format and every competition experiences one of these batting collapses. These incidents occur in cricket matches and competitions, according to Pollard.
Nevertheless, the boys have been outstanding, posting 200 and more, and one of these days we won’t strike. In professional sports, you just have to get up and move on. That’s what we have to do. It’s not the right approach to try to encourage guys to withdraw by dwelling too much, looking too deeply, trying to reveal too much, or overanalyzing things.
The Giants are feeling a lot of the same things after losing to Sunrisers Eastern Cape at home on Saturday for the second time in a row.
“For the most part, we controlled the game until there were 50 runs remaining, at which point we simply gave up.” DSG captain Keshav Maharaj stated, “I think we read [the pitch] pretty spot on; it was just a lack of execution towards the end and the Sunrisers capitalised on that.”
After Richard Gleeson and Nicholas Pooran left the team after the first three games, DSG hasn’t played at its best, but all-rounder Wiaan Mulder showed grit and determination in the final game, which would have impressed Maharaj.
He will be hoping that Mulder can maintain his recent success so that impact players like Heinrich Klaasen and Quinton de Kock can play how they naturally do.
Maharaj commented, “It’s brilliant to see [Mulder] take the opportunity that he had.” “We always sensed he had something unique in him, and I’m happy he’s reaping the benefits of his diligence.”
SQUADS IN FULL FOR NEWLANDS
Kieron Pollard (captain), Tom Banton, Chris Benjamin, Dewald Brevis, Sam Curran, Connor Esterhuizen, Beuran Hendricks, Duan Jansen, Thomas Kaber, George Linde, Liam Livingstone, Delano Potgieter, Kagiso Rabada, Ryan Rickelton, Grant Roelofsen, Olly Stone, Nuwan Thushara, Rassie van der Dussen, and Nealan van Heerden are the MI Cape Town players.
The following players play for Durban’s Super Giants: captain Keshav Maharaj, Noor Ahmad, Matthew Breetzke, Junior Dala, Quinton de Kock, Tony de Zorzi, Heinrich Klaasen, Kyle Mayers, Wiaan Mulder, Naveen-ul-Haq Murid, Bryce Parsons, Keemo Paul, Nicholas Pooran, Dwaine Pretorius, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Jon-Jon Smuts, Jason Smith, Marcus Stoinis, Prenelan Subrayen, Reece Topley.
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