Couch Critic previews the Momentum One Day Cup matches between the Lions and the Knights and the Titans v Dolphins on Saturday 16th and Sunday 17th February, brought to you courtesy of BetOlimp.co.za
It is well and truly cricket season as not only is there some international cricket around but the local 50 over Momentum One Day Cup comp has also gotten underway. Two matches take place over the weekend that we take a look at in a bit more detail on behalf of my good friends at betolimp.co.za.
(Note, all odds quoted are subject to change)
Lions v Knights - Saturday
The bizhub Highveld Lions meet the VKB Knights on Saturday in Johannesburg looking to recover from conceding 343 runs against the Dolphins in their opening encounters (taking the “L”) as well as dropping potential points at home when Wednesday’s clash against the Warriors was rained out. Nothing but a win against the men from Bloem will do for coach Enoch Nkwe as he looks to get his chargers back on track and eying an unprecedented third trophy of the 2018/19 season.
The Nights for their part bring some experience in the form of Ryan McLaren and Shadley van Schalkwyk as well as bright young talent in the form of AndriesGous and Keegan Pietersen. But the brutally honest truth is that this is a side looking to grow and develop, a far cry from one that is battle hardened and ready to trade blows with squads that have a number of Proteas or ex-Proteas in their ranks.
Verdict: Reeza Hendricks and Rassie van der Dussen are in the running for World Cup spots in the batting department whilst Wiaan Mulder and Dwayne Pretorius are also still in with a chance. Add Bjorn Fortuin who is a crafty local tweaker and one just can’t see the out gunned Knights escaping from this one with much honour.
In the second game of the weekend the Multiply Titans welcome the HollywoodbetsDolphins to Centurion.
The Dolphins are almost the exact opposite of the Knights we discussed above. Protea stars, David Miller and Imran Tahir are surrounded by seasoned local campaigners who have all had a taste of cricket at the top level. Morne van Wyk, Vaugh van Jaarsveld, Zondo, Villas, and Frylinck have all been involved in the Protea set-up somewhere along the line in their careers and they are all now at that stage where they’ve seen it all and know exactly what to expect and how to handle each and every situation. The dynamic all-round skills of Andile Phelukwayo adds some zeal and zip to balance the older hands in the team.
Whilst the names rattled off above means that the Dolphins do have more combined caps than their hosts Henry Davids alone goes a long way in balancing the experience ledger. Add Behardien and Kuhn to this and it literally is probably only the Durbanites who can claim veteran status over the Titans. Lungi Ngidi and Chris Morris are two more bowlers looking to put their hands up for a ticket on the plane to England whilst Shamsi can already pre-book a window seat.
This promises to be a heck of a tussle between two of the big dogs on the local scene. The Dolphins boys have seen everything, but they might just see another loss on this occasion as home ground advantage tilts this one in favour of the men in blue.
Bet: Lions and Titans both to win as double @ 2.79 with BETOLIMP
