With Durban’s Super Giants securing one of the Betway SA20 Season 2 playoffs spots, it leaves MI Cape Town (5th place) and Joburg Super Kings (6th) with all to do to secure their spots in the playoffs.
The two teams clash at Newlands on Monday evening, both with the aim of turning the momentum of their Season 2 campaign. Throw in the fierce rivalry between their IPL sister teams, and this contest will be a must-watch.
Following their four-run defeat to Sunrisers Eastern Cape on Saturday, MI Cape Town’s head coach, Robin Peterson, is under no illusion about what needs to happen in their remaining three matches of the group stage.
“We will have to do a little bit of soul searching and find something within – this is a franchise with a lot of expectations on us [coaches] and the players. We’ve got the talent, but it’s about summoning up the will to go forward in this tournament.”
While there have been various reasons for MICT’s five defeats in their seven matches to date, Peterson quickly identified what was missing at St George’s Park.
“This is a tight competition with games of small margins. Ultimately you can see where the Sunrisers game was won and lost by looking at the data and the stats. They out-ran us.... they had twenty 2s, we had something like four – so that’s a big difference when you lose by four runs, which is quite hard to take.”
Asked if there were any positives considering the precarious position they find themselves in, Peterson identified two.
“We’re still in a position to qualify, and that’s a positive – but we have to start entering the race now. Also, Dewald Brevis getting runs, hitting a few boundaries... he hasn’t had a great tournament but for him seeing the ball sail will give him a lot of belief moving forward.”
“Looking at them at training I can’t question their commitment,” Peterson added. “You know human beings need to be inspired and I think they’re pretty motivated as a group. It’s only once you start losing close games that the soul-searching starts, but we have to stick together as a group, I think that’s the most important part – win or lose, you have to stick together. These franchise tournaments come around thick and fast and players play in them all around the world so at the end of the day the important thing for me is that we stick together now and show a bit of resilience in this competition.”
Peterson believes their current form doesn’t necessarily mean they are out of the running to lift the 2024 trophy.
“We’re disappointed where we sit in the tournament but it’s still in our own hands. Last year Sunrisers qualified with four wins and managed to win the competition so with a bit of luck, and right inspiration and trying to get the little things right we can do it.”
Meanwhile, Joburg Super Kings were denied the opportunity to overtake MICT on the log standings by the torrential downpour at Centurion leaving their Highveld Derby against Pretoria Capitals abandoned.
Ahead of today’s match, JSK have also lost the services of West Indies allrounder Romario Shepherd and Afghanistan spinner Zahir Khan, who have been called up for international duty. New Zealand fast bowler Doug Bracewell has taken Shepherd’s place in squad and will be in line for an SA20 debut at Newlands.
This match will start at 17h30 (SAST).
FULL SQUADS FOR NEWLANDS
MI Cape Town: 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, Nealan van Heerden.
Joburg Super Kings: Faf du Plessis (captain), Moeen Ali, Doug Bracewell, Nandre Burger, Gerald Coetzee, Sam Cook, Leus du Plooy, Donovan Ferreira, Dayyaan Galiem, Reeza Hendricks, Ronan Herrmann, Wayne Madsen, Sibonelo Makhanya, Aaron Phangiso, Kyle Simmonds, Imran Tahir, David Wiese, Lizaad Williams.