Giants close in as leaders Blitzed
Blitz and Giants battle for top spot
The halfway mark of the Mzansi Super League has been reached with the Cape Town Blitz and the Nelson Mandela Bay Giants clear at the top of the table, and they are the two teams that will meet next as the new T20 competition goes to the oldest first-class venue in the country – St George’s Park – today for the top-of-the-table clash.
The Blitz suffered the bitter taste of defeat for the first time at the weekend when left-arm spinner Bjorn Fortuin and Proteas captain Faf du Plessis led the Paarl Rocks to a five-wicket win in the Western Cape derby. After four successive wins, the Cape Town side looked to be running away with the competition, but the Giants are now just six points behind them with a game in hand.
Blitz captain Farhaan Behardien reckons the loss was just the shot of reality his side needed.
“I reckon its brilliant for the team. It is always nice to taste a little bit of a loss before playoffs and finals. Sometimes when you are winning all the time, you tend to gloss over things. To taste defeat, in my opinion, is a good thing. We will lick our wounds and put it to bed as quickly as we can. Fortunately, we have won four from five and at the halfway mark we are happy with our performance thus far,” Behardien said.
While the Giants winning on Tuesday and closing to within two points of the Cape Town Blitz, and still with a game in hand, is probably just what the competition needs, the focus on Gauteng will be on the derby between the Tshwane Spartans and Jozi Stars at SuperSport Park tomorrow, with the Centurion side desperate to get themselves back into possible playoff contention with what would be just their second win in five matches.
While matters will be pretty grim for the Tshwane outfit if they lose to their neighbours, the Jozi Stars are third at the moment and, depending on the result in Port Elizabeth today, could close to within three points of the NMB Giants and get themselves into the discussion for the top two places.