Aiming for hat-trick of SA20 titles: Aiden Markram

Cape Town, Jan 9 (PTI) Sunrisers Eastern Cape skipper Aiden Markram says his side is pumped up to make it a hat-trick of titles at the SA20 as it faces MI Cape Town in its opening game.

Markram’s team has won both the editions of the competition so far. The tournament begins days after South Africa blanked Pakistan in a Test series at home.

“Definitely still really pumped to try and get a third one this year. Obviously, (there are) no guarantees and it’s a hugely competitive tournament, so hopefully in a month’s time something cool can happen,” Markram said during the Captains’ Day press conference here.

Former South Africa captain Faf du Plessis said his side Joburg Super Kings haven’t got the ideal weather to finalise its preparations as it has rained for the last few days in Johannesburg, but his players are surely up for a fight.

“From my side, the weather has been a bit of a downer down in Joburg, it’s been pretty wet. But from a squad perspective, some great signings in Joburg too, and you know the likes of Jonny Bairstow, Devon Conway, (Matheesha) Pathirana,” du Plessis said.

“Those three guys and (Tabraiz) Shamsi, obviously, have a lot of experience that comes with them. So, all in all, our squad are looking very balanced. Two injuries, that wasn’t ideal for our pace attack for Nandre Burger and Lizaad Williams. But we still feel we have enough options to put out a well balanced team,” he added.

MI Cape Town’s Rashid Khan said his side was determined to put a better show in the third edition.

“I think from the first year we had some really close games and it just didn’t go our way. We had some great cricket last year as well, some wonderful cricket,” he said.

“But it was just more about the result, it didn’t come our way. In the fresh year, we’ll go with a fresh mind. We have some new faces in the team. We’re looking forward to the new challenges and hopefully this year it won’t be the same in the last few years.”

Paarl Royals’ captain David Miller said the competitiveness in the league has benefitted South African cricket to a major extent.

“It’s been two special years for us, but also for the competition itself. Just playing with the competitive juices that we have, all the games are really fun to be a part of, as well as having incredible overseas players, all the coaches are around,” he said.

“The level of competitiveness is really up there which is great to be a part of and obviously playing in front of full houses with a lot of energy in the stadium is really good fun,” Miller added.

Durban Super Giants’ captain Keshav Maharaj hoped that his side will be able to get over the line after finishing as the runner-up in the last edition.

“I think the energy and vibe in the camp has been phenomenal. Obviously, I haven’t been there, but they’ve been watching through social media and just a few contacts with the coach,” added Maharaj, who too was a part of South Africa’s Test series.

Pretoria Capitals’ Rilee Rossouw said his side has focussed on keeping it simple.

“I guess we want to play positive cricket (which is) not (only) my philosophy, it’s the team’s philosophy. We want to play good cricket at a good pace and always be competitive.”