Like a revolving door at a supermarket, many of the sides in the Miway T20 Challenge will say goodbye to some players and hello to others in the coming days as the competition reaches it’s halfway stage.
Among those reacquainting themselves with their franchises in the next few days are Albie Morkel (Titans), Johan Botha (Warriors), Wayne Parnell (Warriors) and Herschelle Gibbs (Cobras), while Alviro Petersen (Lions), Vernon Philander (Cobras) and Jacques Rudolph (Titans) are part of the group heading Down Under on international duty.
The impact on the sides affected by all this coming and going will be significant.
Besides Botha and Parnell, the Warriors have welcomed back Colin Ingram and Rusty Theron (who were involved only in the T20s in New Zealand), who underlined their importance with vital contributions as the Warriors scored a first win in the competition over the Impi this week.
In Cape Town, Richard Pybus must try to figure out how he’ll accommodate Gibbs in an immensely powerful top order that contains Andrew Puttick, the competition’s form player in Stiaan van Zyl and Richard Levi.
Vernon Philander and Mark Boucher are headed to New Zealand, while overseas signing Brad Hogg landed in the Mother City this week.
Petersen may not have scored a run in his last two knocks for the Highveld Lions, but as captain his influence stretches beyond just contributing with the bat.
Also coming off the back of their first defeat in the competition – an eight-wicket thrashing by the Knights last Sunday – the Lions travel across the Jukskei for what is always a feisty encounter with their provincial neighbours.
The Titans obviously took confidence out of claiming the SuperSport Series and have picked up three wins in the competition. Two of those were against the bottom two sides, the Impi and the Warriors, while their lone defeat came at home to the Knights.
Morkel is obviously still involved with the one-day series in New Zealand so will play no part in the two key clashes this weekend – tonight’s derby and Sunday’s trip to Newlands – and with Rudolph, their top scorer in the competition, gone too, the onus falls on their captain, Martin van Jaarsveld, and Farhaan Behardien to pick up the slack until the elder Morkel, Morne, returns next week.
The Lions have handed the captaincy reins to Thami Tsolekile, while Petersen’s spot at the top of the order is likely to be filled by the chatty veteran Gulam Bodi.
While the impact of experienced players like Neil McKenzie and Tsolekile has been important this season, in the Twenty20 competition it has been the performances of some of the younger brigade that have caught the eye.
In his past two knocks, 19-year-old Quinton de Kock has made thrilling contributions, including a half-century last Friday night at the Wanderers in which he made Philander look quite ordinary.
De Kock backed that up with a 36-ball 48 in Bloemfontein, marking himself out as one to watch this season. – The Star