Up against MI Cape Town in their second match of the SA20 season on Friday, Durban's Super Giants (DSG) will be eager to get their campaign up and running after falling short in their opening fixture.
In their tournament opener against Joburg Super Kings on Wednesday, the Quinton de Kock-led side dominated the first half of the innings while batting and bowling before coming up short in the closing stages of the contest.
"Can't be upset about tonight and (we) look forward to the next one," skipper de Kock said after the loss against Joburg Super Kings in their season opener.
Durban's Super Giants will have to be at their best in the upcoming contest against a confident MI Cape Town team that will head into the encounter on the back of a win.
The Super Giants’ spin trio of Keshav Maharaj, Prenelan Subrayen, and Akila Dananjaya dismantled the Super Kings' top order inside the powerplay and accounted for four wickets overall in their season opener. They will play Cape Town at Newlands on Friday and spinners have had assistance at the venue in the past, which is something that Maharaj, Subrayen, and Dananjaya can look to capitalise on.
As far as the pacers are concerned, the likes of Jason Holder, Dwaine Pretorius, and Keemo Paul will be looking to make their presence felt after combining for two scalps in the opening fixture of the campaign.
On the batting front, DSG openers de Kock and Kyle Mayers will look to continue their form after shining in the opening fixture with scores of 78 and 39 respectively. Heinrich Klaasen, Wiaan Mulder, Holder, Pretorius, and Keemo Paul will also look to have more of a say with the bat than they did in their last game.
MI Cape Town, on the other hand, won their season opener against Paarl Royals. They have plenty of household names in the team like Dewald Brevis, Sam Curran, Rassie van der Dussen, Rashid Khan, and Jofra Archer to bank on. However, Durban's Super Giants have plenty of quality players in the team and will know that they are more than capable of getting the better of MI Cape Town when on song.
DSG are expected to remain unchanged for the MI Cape Town clash on January 13 with their playing XI looking well balanced in all departments.
Probable playing XI
Quinton de Kock (c & wk), Kyle Mayers, Matthew Breetzke, Heinrich Klaasen, Prenelan Subrayen, Jason Holder, Dwaine Pretorius, Wiaan Mulder, Keshav Maharaj, Akila Dananjaya, Keemo Paul
