The Durban Heat will need to beef up their batting if they hope to get a positive result when they face off against the top of the table Nelson Mandela Bay Giants in an Mzansi Super League clash on Saturday afternoon at St Georges Park.
Gary Kirsten's side will be looking for a win in order to gain some confidence following some bad luck during the early stages of the season. The Durban based franchise have thus far managed to complete just one out of their four games to date. Two out of their three opening fixtures which were scheduled for Kingsmead were abandoned without a ball being bowled while the one completed fixture resulted in defeat against the Cape Town Blitz.
The Heat were reeling 21/3 whilst chasing down 142 against the Tshwane Spartans at SuperSport Park on Wednesday before the game was declared a no result due to the rain. The Heat's two performances so far from the games that they got to play do suggest that they need to tighten up in terms of their batting.
While very adept, the bowling attack will also need to tighten up a bit ahead of the game against the Giants considering that Keshav Maharaj was the only bowler from the side during the game who had an economy rate of less than 7 runs an over.
A win for the Heat against the Giants will be a perfect way to get their campaign up and running. It will however likely not be an easy game for Kirsten's charges. The Eastern Cape side head into the clash on the top of the MSL standings and unbeaten after having won three out of their four games to date with the other fixture being called off due to rain.
Jon-Jon Smuts side also head into the game on the back of an impressive 5 wicket win against the second placed Cape Town Blitz. A factor which is working well for the Giants is the fact that their top order batsman as well as front-line bowlers are so far proving to be in-form and consistent. Smuts, Farhaan Berhardien and Australian Ben Dunk are all averaging over 40 in the competition with the bat.
The duo of Smuts and Berhardien will also be very keen to continue their good runs of form respectively in order to push for selection to the Proteas T20 side which will play in the World T20 Championship next year.
With Junior Dala, Chris Morris and Imran Tahir, the Giants also boast a seasoned bowling lineup. The former has taken eight wickets so far while the latter have six apiece.
Eshlin Vedan
IOL Sport
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