The first domestic T20 competition of the winter begins on Sunday when South Africa’s Ram Slam T20 Challenge gets underway.
This has often been an underrated competition which has gone under the radar compared to the likes of the Indian Premier League, the Big Bash League as well as the Caribbean Premier League and the NatWest T20 Blast.
The profile of it could well improve this season though as Sky Sports are taking a lot of the coverage of the event and also a certain Kevin Pietersen returns to his roots to play in the tournament for the first time.
In all six franchises will battle it out for the title which the Cape Cobras won 12 months ago. Unlike last season this one could take a little bit of working out from an outright point of view as a number of star names will be away with South Africa for the first month or so of the event.
The Cobras look to be the side most hurt by that South Africa tour as they will be without Hashim Amla, Dale Steyn, JP Duminy and Vernon Philander for a while and Dane’s Piedt and Vilas are also away to begin with as well.
The defending champions still have some solid 20 over talent with the likes of Richard Levi, Justin Ontong, Justin Kemp and Robin Peterson all left behind so they should still put up a solid defence of their title and if they make the top three they’ll have their big guns back for the playoffs.
The absences for some sides might give the Warriors and the Knights some hope of progressing through the competition but I have to say I don’t see much standout quality in the key areas in either side and much likes the betting suggests I’m going to rule them out pretty quickly.
I’m not convinced the Highveld Lions are the side they were a couple of years ago either. They will be without Kagiso Rabada and Temba Bavuma for the beginning of the tournament and their star players Alviro Petersen and Neil McKenzie are getting on a bit now too so I’m not convinced they will stay the pace.
I think the winner of this tournament will come from either the Dolphins or the Titans and I came very close to taking the Dolphins. We shouldn’t give up on a side with the likes of Kevin Pietersen, Morne van Wyk, David Miller and Cameron Delport at their disposal but I can’t ignore my theory that bowling attacks win matches in this format.
With that in mind I’m going to side with the Titans to get the job done here. The Centurion based side have more than enough batting to get the job done even without de Villiers, du Plessis and Elgar with the likes of Quinton de Kock, Ferhaan Behardien, Henry Davids and Heino Kuhn who all have international experience.
It is with the ball I fancy the Titans to shine with Chris Morris, David Wiese when he is fit, Albie Morkel, Marchant de Lange and Tabraiz Shamsi all forming a potent combination until Morne Morkel returns to play.
The Titans look the strongest outfit to me while South Africa are in India and when the internationals get back and hopefully that will translate into them winning the title at a solid price for a favourite in a six runner field.
Back Titans to win Ram Slam T20 Challenge for a 3/10 stake at 4.50 with Ladbrokes
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