The Paarl Rocks have already made it into the Mzansi Super League final and on Friday afternoon we will find out who they will face for the title on Monday, as the Nelson Mandela Bay Giants take on the Tshwane Spartans in Port Elizabeth.
This semi-final sees the sides who finished second and third in the regular season going at it in what should be a cracking contest, one which is needed to give South African cricket something of a boost in the tough times it is currently enduring.
Nelson Mandela Bay Giants
This is a mental test as well as a competitive one for the Nelson Mandela Bay Giants. That is because until the final few balls of the regular season, the Port Elizabeth based outfit were top of the table and through to the final automatically. Then came a loss to the Paarl Rocks in their final match, by a margin they could not afford, and all of a sudden they find themselves having to win a knockout match to make it through to the title showdown.
Their strength and their weakness were played out in that match against Paarl. They did their job with the bat in the main but they had been asked to do too much with the ball, and that is something they are going to need to have to improve on if they are to go on and win the title. They need more discipline, and indeed quality, with the ball. If they get that, they have shown enough with the bat to suggest they will be fine.
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Tshwane Spartans
It is hard to gauge the Tshwane Spartans in so many ways. One reason for that is so many of their matches have been rain affected to the point that half of their regular season matches failed to yield a result. They only won three of the other five matches, losing the previous two, so you could argue that the Centurion based outfit are slightly fortunate to have this chance to make it through to the final.
One thing they do have is some big game players. AB de Villiers can take any match apart on his day and they have enough in their bowling attack to be competitive, however they have already lost to the Nelson Mandela Bay Giants this season and were in deep trouble in the other one before the rain saved the day. That kind of runs to their overall season form so a big improvement is going to be needed here.
Betting
I like the home side here. Their price is probably only a shade of value, but there is enough in there to merit supporting them. In fairness Tshwane Spartans could be anything, the truth is we haven’t really seen what they can do over a consistent period but they have already lost a high scoring encounter on this ground this season, and it is hard to see them coming out on top in a low scorer really.
Nelson Mandela Bay Giants need to forget what happened on Sunday, but if they can do that I think they have the potential to win this match. Their batting line up has fired all season so even if their bowlers don’t deliver we know they can still win. If the attack does get the job done then the route into the final should be an easier one for them. It is the home side for me in this semi-final.
Tips
Back Nelson Mandela Bay Giants to beat Tshwane Spartans for a 4/10 stake at 1.80 with Coral
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