What to look out for in round 3 of the Four-Day Series

There’s so much to look forward to in Round 3 of the 4-Day Franchise Series, as SuperSport broadcasts their first game of the season between the Lions and the Knights, writes Clifford Sihlezana.

It’s an exciting week for South African cricket followers as Cape Town host the first international match in the country since March, before the opening T20 match on the 27^th of November 2020.

Fans will also be treated to the third round of the Cricket South Africa (CSA) Four Day Series from Monday 23^rd November – 26^th November 2020.

There has been an outcry over the blackout of the Four Day Domestic series as supporters could not watch the Franchise First-Class tournament on television.

The National cricket body and broadcaster SuperSport have finally heeded the call and supporters will be able to watch the much-loved matches on the broadcaster’s online streaming platforms. The match between the Imperial Lions and the VKB Knights at the Imperial Wanderers Stadium will be the first live match broadcasted.

LIONS VS KNIGHTS

It is fitting that the first broadcasted match is between the defending champions the Imperial Lions and the highflying VKB Knights.

The Knights have had a sensational start to the 2020/21 season as they have won their first two matches scoring over 400 runs in each of their last two matches with batter Raynard van Tonder firing with 277 runs so far while former Imperial Lions bowler Migael Pretorius has adjusted well to life at the Knights with 12 wickets so far.

The defending champions have yet to pick up their first win of their season having come close last time out against the Six Gun Grill Cape Cobras. Beuran Hendricks was in top form as he took his 2^nd ever first-class 10 wicket haul in a match while namesake Dominic Hendricks underlined his batting quality with his 15th first-class century (130).

However, the efforts of Beuran and Dominic Hendricks were not enough for victory as Kyle Verryenne continued to stake a claim for test selection with hard-fought totals of 51 and 72, while the partnership of George Linde (69*) and Tony de Zorzi (67) helped the Cape side to a hard-fought draw.

DOLPHINS VS COBRAS

The Cape Cobras will have momentum on their side as they take on the Hollywoodbets Dolphins in Durban, the KwaZulu-Natal based franchise have had an indifferent start to the season as they opened their campaign with a resounding victory against the Imperial Lions before going down to the VKB Knights in their next match

Dolphins opener Sarel Erwee leads the batting charts with 324 runs and an average of 108. The Dolphins lose the services of Keshav Maharaj who is selected for the Proteas squad.

The Spin bowler took figures of 6-101 the last time the Durban outfit played at home, however, fellow spin bowler Prenelan Subrayen is expected to lead the spin bowling charge in Durban while a very promising Ottniel Baartman is expected to provide a challenge with his fast bowling against the Cobras at home.

TITANS VS WARRIORS

Up in Centurion the Momentum Multiply Titans with back to back wins will be looking to extend their winning streak against a winless Warriors outfit. Their squad depth will be tested as top performers, Junior Dala, Heinrich Klaasen and Tabraiz Shamsi will be missing on international duty.

The Warriors have shown glimpses of quality with the bat as Matthew Breetzke ( 77*) and Gihan Cloete (66) have scored half-centuries in their opening two matches.