The second match of the new SA20 tournament comes from Kingsmead in Durban where two more teams get their existence underway when the Durban Super Giants go up against the Johannesburg Super Kings on Wednesday.
That means we see teams who are owned by a relatively new Indian Premier League franchise and one of the initial ones. Both teams will be looking to make their mark on the competition and get off to a winning start.
Durban Super Giants
The Lucknow Super Giants, the Indian version of the Durban franchise, had an acceptable first campaign in the elite competition but the South African side will be looking to go a little bit better than that. They have done some decent recruiting with some good overseas options, particularly with the ball. Mixed in with that are some of the better home talent going around with the bat so there should be a good blend to this team.
You get the impression that the key to the Durban side will be how their seamers go. Jason Holder is a seasoned campaigner in franchise tournaments while Reece Topley is one of the best death bowlers in the world. If the bowlers can do well then it will take the pressure off of the likes of Quinton de Kock, Johnson Charles and Heinrich Klaasen with the bat. Like a number of teams we might see Durban improve into the competition once their Test players have adjusted to being back home.
Johannesburg Super Kings
Whenever you have the franchise name Super Kings you are expected to win competitions. That is what Chennai have done in the Indian Premier League and the ownership will be expecting nothing less in the South Africa competition. That puts pressure on the team but there is a coaching staff and captain in place who will be used to how the Super Kings work which will help. We can expect them to play an aggressive brand of cricket.
The Super Kings were not helped in their quest of this title when Harry Brook was pulled out of the competition pretty late on by England. That will leave a hole in their batting so the likes of Faf du Plessis, Reeza Hendricks and Janneman Malan will need to step up a little more. The Super Kings have a competitive looking bowling unit and it is one which will only get better when Maheesh Theekshana joins after completing his international duty.
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Key Players
It would be a surprise if Jason Holder isn’t needed to play a significant role with the bat and the ball in this match. He will definitely be key with the ball but if he gets in with the bat then Kingsmead might not be big enough to contain him.
Reeza Hendricks has a wonderful T20 record and might have a point to prove after he wasn’t selected at all in the T20 World Cup at the back end of last year. Whether he opens or bats at three the Super Kings could do with plenty of runs.
Betting
Much like Newlands on Tuesday, Kingsmead wasn’t the highest scoring ground in the recent South Africa 50 over competition and historically isn’t really renowned for a barrel load of runs so I’m looking at this in much the same way that I did the opening game of the tournament where the boundaries might be in lower supply than many are expecting. Unlike on Tuesday, there is no Jos Buttler, Dewald Brevis or David Miller doing the rounds here.
If the new ball can account for a couple of the likes of Quinton de Kock, Faf du Plessis and Janneman Malan then there isn’t really a huge amount of genuine batting depth in these sides to pepper the boundary but what both do have is a couple of spin options and a good death bowler who can slow down any run of boundaries later in the innings. The pitch here usually offers a bit for the bowlers and so once again I think the 35.5 boundaries line could be a little out of reach.
Tips
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