JSK VS MICT MATCH 4

The 2025 SA20 League makes its first stop in Johannesburg as the Joburg Super Kings kick off their campaign against MI Cape Town. Whenever the Super Kings, draped in yellow, clash with the blue-clad MI, it promises to be a blockbuster encounter, regardless of the league or location. Over the past two seasons, the Super Kings have faltered just one step short of the final. Despite this, they have retained their trusted leadership duo of Faf du Plessis as captain and Stephen Fleming as head coach. To bolster their batting, they have added the firepower of Jonny Bairstow and Devon Conway. These new signings, alongside Leus du Plooy, Donovan Ferreira, and Faf himself, form a formidable batting unit. The retained duo of Moeen Ali and David Wiese further strengthens both their batting and bowling departments. However, their pace bowling setup faces challenges with injuries ruling out Nandre Burger and Lizaad Williams from the tournament. Gerald Coetzee, who missed the second Test against Sri Lanka and the all-format series against Pakistan due to a groin injury, remains uncertain for the opening game. In his absence, a lot will depend on their Wildcard signing and T20 specialist Matheesha Pathirana. The team will also rely on replacements Doug Bracewell and Lutho Sipamla to step up and deliver. Pathirana's fellow Sri Lankan teammate, Maheesh Theekshana, is a new addition to the spin-bowling arsenal, which already boasts the experienced duo of Imran Tahir and Tabraiz Shamsi. After finishing at the bottom of the table for the past two seasons, MI Cape Town have made an early statement in this edition with a commanding 97-run victory over the defending champions, Sunrisers Eastern Cape. Dewald Brevis' blistering knock powered them to 174, and Delano Potgieter's remarkable five-wicket haul skittled the Sunrisers for just 77. Rashid Khan couldn't have asked for a better showing from his bowling unit, but one area of concern for him will be the batters' inability to convert starts into big scores, a shortcoming from their previous game. MI Cape Town will also be keeping an eye on the availability of left-handed batter Ryan Rickelton, who missed the opening game due to a hamstring strain sustained after scoring a double century in the Test against Pakistan last week. Kagiso Rabada also missed the opening match, and it remains to be seen whether he will feature in the upcoming clash against the Super Kings. There is not much to separate these two sides when it comes to their past meetings, with both teams winning two encounters each. Which side will take the lead in this closely contested rivalry? We shall find out.