SEASON three of South Africa’s premier T20 competition, the SA20, is finally upon us as MI Cape Town are set to face off against defending champions Sunrisers Eastern Cape (SEC) at St George’s Park in Gqeberha tonight (5.30pm).
The tournament has had great success in helping elevate local talent and inject much-needed financial support into the sport in SA.
Despite having gone through only two seasons, MI Cape Town batter Rassie van der Dussen believes the event has already had an impact in accelerating the development of young talent and providing exposure to world-class standards.
“(The tournament) definitely has had an impact, especially in bringing young talent through. If you look at Kwena Maphaka, who’s played his first Test, a guy like Nqaba Peter, who plays for the Paarl Royals... those types of guys have come in and made an impact,” Van der Dussen told Independent Media Sport.
“There are really good young batters coming through. Not all of them always get the chance because the squads are so strong, but they are in those squads.
“They rub shoulders with some of the best players in the world, and they are learning from that experience. These guys are only 19, and 20 years old.
Lights! Camera! ACTION! 🤩 🎥#MICapeTown #OneFamily pic.twitter.com/JHI3jEn20B
“For us, a guy like Connor Esterhuizen has so much potential. He’s had a great year in domestic cricket, so it’s great to accelerate that talent – and you see what a guy is about when he is playing at this level.”
Having finished rock bottom for two consecutive seasons, MI Cape Town will be looking to get their campaign off to a winning start tonight in Gqeberha.
Van der Dussen told Independent Media Sport that they have learnt “what not to do” in the last two seasons.
“When you don’t do well, especially in sports in a team environment, the positive of not doing well is sometimes learning what not to do,” he said.
“We gave it a go in the first two years, but it wasn’t successful – we made some mistakes. In saying that, as a team together, we learnt how not to go about it.
“So, we’ll reflect on that and see if this is where we went wrong in the last two editions, and hopefully, we can rectify that.
“The chat around the team is just trying to build a cohesive environment, an environment where we enjoy each other’s company, and the management has a big influence on that.
“We are hoping that the results will follow that. I mean, if you’re in a good, positive environment as a team and everyone’s enjoying themselves – everyone is enjoying each other’s successes – it’s always easier, and it puts you in good stead.”
𝑯𝒐𝒍𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒆, DB! 𝑯𝒐𝒍𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒆 😉🤌#OneFamily #MICapeTown pic.twitter.com/SgW9jYaVXK
— MI Cape Town (@MICapeTown) January 7, 2025
Moreover, Van der Dussen understands that they are taking on the defending champions, who have played incredible cricket over the past two seasons.
The atmosphere at St George’s Park has been by far the most electrifying in the country, and given this, the 35-year-old added that playing SEC in their backyard will be even more challenging.
“SEC play together as the team. That’s what makes them hard to beat, especially there at St George’s Park – the band is there, the crowd is passionate, and they love their team,” said Van der Dussen.
“Looking forward to a great atmosphere there. It’s a great place to play cricket.
Check who's the winner of this game 😁 😉#MICapeTown #OneFamily pic.twitter.com/OwUenEzTem
“We’ve had some success there. A lot of our guys in our team have played a lot of cricket there, so we know how to go about it. It’s going to be a cracker to open the tournament.”
MI Cape Town are also calling on fans to wear blue to their first home game at Newlands on Monday against Paarl Royals. “Let’s turn the stadium into blue, and the support will make this a season to remember!“ | Independent Media Sport