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The defending champions Sunrisers Eastern Cape will kick off the third season of SA20 with a mouth-watering clash against MI Cape Town in Gqeberha on Thursday evening. Both teams will look to begin their respective campaign with a win in the six-team T20 tournament.
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Aiden Markram led the Sunrisers to glory in the first two seasons of the tournament and once again will enter this edition as title favorites. MI Cape Town finished last in the points table in the last two editions and will target a fresh start this season.
Rashid Khan is set to captain MI Cape Town this season who also signed the star South African opener Reeza Hendricks with the highest bid of Rand 4.3 million in the auction in October last year.
SEC vs MICT, SA20 Match 1 Details
Match: Sunrisers Eastern Cape vs MI Cape Town, Match 1
Time & Date: 9:00 PM IST, Thursday, January 9
Venue: St George's Park, Gqeberha
SEC vs MICT, SA20 Match 1 Pitch Report
St George’s Park offers a balanced surface with both batters and bowlers finding good help in T20 cricket. There is always a bit of bounce in the wicket in Gqeberha as the fast bowlers can make an early impact.
In the latest T20I game played at this venue in November 2024, South African bowlers restricted India to just 124 while bowling first and chased down the target with just six balls remaining.
SEC vs MICT, SA20 Match 1 Probable XIs
Sunrisers Eastern Cape:
Zak Crawley, Aiden Markram (c), Tristan Stubbs (wk), Patrick Kruger, Liam Dawson, Tom Abell, Marco Jansen, Andile Simelane, Simon Harmer, Ottniel Baartman, Richard Gleeson.
MI Cape Town:
Reeza Hendricks, Rassie van der Dussen, Ryan Rickelton (wk), Dewald Brevis, Azmatullah Omarzai, Rashid Khan (c), George Linde, Dane Piedt, Trent Boult, Nuwan Thushara, Kagiso Rabada.
SEC vs MICT, SA20 Match Winner Prediction
Match Winner: Sunrisers Eastern Cape
It’s a new season and a new start but the Sunrisers will enter this fixture knowing their unbeaten record, 4 wins in 4 meetings, against MI Cape Town and that will be a big morale boost. MI Cape Town will also face some challenges with a new captain taking charge of rebuilding the squad.
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