MI CT: Big names mean niks in SA20
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Quinton De Kock of Durban’s Super Giants during the 2023 SA20 match between Durban’s Super Giants and Paarl Royals held at Kingsmead in Durban on 15 January 2023. Picture: Sportzpics/SA20/BackpagePix
Name-lekkers don’t put runs on the board and neither do they take wickets, says MI Cape Town’s England international all-rounder Liam Livingstone.
Instead of relying on big names to get the job done, the big-hitting Livingstone reckons the Capetonians’ strength in this year’s SA20 will be teamwork.
Up against Quinton de Kock, Heinrich Klaasen and Keshav Maharaj’s Durban Super Giants in their tournament opener at Kingsmead today at 5.30pm, Livingstone says of the big-name players in all the teams: “You can’t play cricket as a name – it doesn’t matter who you’ve got in your team as long as you play well together as a unit and win games.
“It’s great to have big names and hopefully bring in the crowd, but the game’s not played on paper and we’ll be doing our best to try and make sure everyone gels together and plays the brand of cricket that we want to play, and ultimately you want to win.”
With the likes of Kagiso Rabada, Rassie van der Dussen, Kieron Pollard and Dewald Brevis in their squad, MI CT will be out to get off to a good start against a team that finished in fifth place last season.
The only team that performed worse in the 2023 edition than the Giants were MI CT, who only managed three wins from 10 matches.
Livingstone, who won the inaugural Most Valuable Player award in The Hundred three years ago, adds of what fans can expect from their team: “Hopefully lots of entertainment and to win games of cricket. Hopefully we can do both of them.”
With rain playing a big role in last night’s tournament-opener between defending champions Sunrisers Eastern Cape and Joburg Super Kings at St George’s Park in the Eastern Cape, there is also a 40 percent chance of showers and even thunderstorms at Kingsmead tonight.
