MI Cape Town need more specialist bowlers in the XI.
Sunrisers Eastern Cape (SEC) will face MI Cape Town (MICT) in the 29th match of SA20 2026. Both teams faced each other in the last game, where MICT won by three wickets.
MI Cape Town: Rassie van der Dussen, Ryan Rickelton (wk), Reeza Hendricks, Nicholas Pooran, Jason Smith, George Linde, Corbin Bosch, Karim Janat, Dane Piedt, Kagiso Rabada, Trent Boult
Sunrisers Eastern Cape: Jonny Bairstow, Quinton de Kock (wk), Matthew Breetzke, Jordan Hermann, Tristan Stubbs (c), James Coles, Marco Jansen, Lewis Gregory, Senuran Muthusamy, Anrich Nortje, Adam Milne
Pacers have dominated the proceedings in Gqeberha this season. They have taken 63.63% of total wickets at an average of 20.62 in four games so far. Speedsters’ average at this venue is the best among all grounds in SA20 2026.
The average first-innings score in Gqeberha has been 168. Expect another nice track, with some early movement for pacers. The team winning the toss might elect to field first, with around 180 being a fighting score.
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MI Cape Town played with only four specialist bowlers in the previous game – Trent Boult, Kagiso Rabada, George Linde, and Dane Piedt, while Corbin Bosch and Kieron Pollard played as all-rounders. Fortunately for MICT, they did the job on a deck suiting pacers, and they didn’t feel the need for another specialist.
However, MI Cape Town will need another specialist bowler in Gqeberha, as Sunrisers Eastern Cape will have a strong batting outfit and will play at home. Since the deck will suit pacers, MICT should bring in Tristan Luus. Luus has surprisingly not had enough opportunities throughout the season, even when certain opponents required his presence.
However, he should get a game now that Rashid Khan is no longer around, and the deck will suit his bowling style. Luus’ presence will allow MI Cape Town to use Kagiso Rabada and Trent Boult in the powerplay and get the same quality in the middle overs. He has the pace, and his natural lengths are short, making him a perfect enforcer when the field is spread.
With Rashid gone, MICT won’t have enough quality in the spin department, and spinners won’t have enough assistance here. Hence, they need to increase quality in the other department, and Tristan Luus should come in. Other options, such as Dwaine Pretorius and Tiaan van Vuuren, are not as skilled in hitting hard lengths, and MICT already have enough pacers for the remaining roles.
Kieron Pollard was required for a couple of overs in the previous game, but his bowling can be highly vulnerable in Gqeberha. So, the only way to avoid dependency on non-specialists and spinners is by slotting in another pacer. MI Cape Town already have a lengthy batting lineup, so they should either drop a batter or leave out Piedt.
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