Giants plan for a six-day war
Bay side must pull out all stops in next three MSL home games in a week
The Nelson Mandela Bay Giants face a crucial six-day period in their Mzansi Super League campaign starting with the Cape Town Blitz at St George’s Park in Port Elizabeth on Tuesday (7pm).
The match against the logleaders is the start of a hectic schedule that sees them playing three home games in the next six days.
With three wins from their four matches so far and their two most recent triumphs coming on the bounce, the Giants have an opportunity to create some serious momentum.
Granted, it is tough to carry on winning endlessly when one takes into consideration the vagaries of T20 cricket. But if the Giants somehow manage to take advantage of home conditions against the Blitz on Tuesday night, the Paarl Rocks on Friday (2pm) and the Jozi Stars on Sunday (3.30pm) it will go some way to clinching a berth in the top three playoff spots.
The Giants have only played one home game so far, smashing the highly-rated Durban Heat by nine wickets on Friday and coach Eric Simons recognises the importance of winning in their own backyard.
“In any competition like this, you need to understand your homeground,” said Simons.
“You need to understand and you need to play well. I mean we played probably pretty close to the perfect game against the Durban Heat last week so one would want to do that again.
“We up against the Cape Town Blitz who are obviously a very good side. I think we got a good side for any conditions and obviously knowing we were going to play five games in Port Elizabeth we sat with that thought in the draft.
“If we can set the game up with our bowling and bowl with the same discipline on Tuesday then obviously we are going to be a tough side to beat.”
Simons says there are still areas to work on after their victory over the Tshwane Spartans in Centurion on Sunday.
“I don’t think we played great cricket to be honest with you. It’s good to obviously win when you aren’t playing the perfect game.
“We early wickets and we lost soft wickets. Some of the decision-making wasn’t ideal but, as I said, if you win these games then that’s great. I still think we were favourites if the game ran its course,” he said of the sevenrun Duckworth-Lewis Method victory on Sunday.
Simons, who has spent a decade in the Indian Premier League in various coaching roles, believes the MSL has been good for South African cricket when one considers the exposure young players are receiving.
“If I look at the league in a broad sense, one of the things that I feel is that it’s unearthed some incredible young talent. Already this tournament is starting to do that. I think there are a lot of young cricketers learning the game very quickly. They making some mistakes but that’s a good thing and they will need to see and understand the way to do it going forward,” said Simons.
One such talented player is Giants batsman Marco Marais, who top-scored with 47 against the Spartans. Marais is feeling his way into franchise cricket having starred for Border in recent seasons. He says Simons is helping him make the transition.
“Our coach is very . . . I don’t want to say laid-back because some people may take it the wrong way. We have a chat before each game and he allows you to play the way you want to play which is very nice.
“There is no pressure on you as a player. I know you want to do well but if you’ve got the backing of the coach and the support staff then it’s great. You don’t want to over-complicate T20 cricket because it happens so quickly.”