Pretoria Capitals captain Keshav Maharaj won the toss and chose to bat first in their Betway SA20 match against MI Cape Town at Newlands on Wednesday evening.
This is the sixth meeting between the two sides. MI Cape Town leads the head-to-head 3-2. They won the last encounter, played here at Newlands, by an impressive 95 runs.
The defending champions, MI Cape Town, are sitting in fourth place, with a negative net run rate and are looking for their first win of the season. They have two matches under their belt. They suffered a 15-run loss to the Durban Super Giants at home, then shared points with DSG at Kingsmead after the return leg was washed out.
MI Cape Town welcome Kagiso Rabada back into the starting eleven. The Proteas superstar missed the first two games due to injury. They will be hoping that his presence on the pitch will spur them to victory.
Unlike MI Cape Town, who kept their batting core from their title-winning campaign, the Capitals rebuilt their side at the auction. They put together an explosive middle-order with Dewald Brevis, Connor Esterhuizen, and Sherfane Rutherford. Unfortunately, that middle-order is yet to take flight.
Like their hosts, the Capitals are winless after two outings. They succumbed to a 22-run defeat at the hands of Joburg Super Kings at SuperSport Park in their first match, and then travelled to St George's Park, where they lost by 48 runs.
MI CAPE TOWN: Rassie van der Dussen, Ryan Rickelton (wk), Reeza Hendricks, Nicholas Pooran, Jason Smith, Dwaine Pretorius, George Linde, Corbin Bosch, Rashid Khan (capt), Kagiso Rabada, Trent Boult.
PRETORIA CAPITALS: Will Smeed, Bryce Parsons, Shai Hope (wk), Dewald Brevis, Connor Esterhuizen, Sherfane Rutherford, Wihan Lubbe, Keshav Maharaj (capt), Lizaad Williams, Tymal Mills, Lungi Ngidi.
MI CAPE TOWN: Rassie van der Dussen, Ryan Rickelton (wk), Reeza Hendricks, Nicholas Pooran, Jason Smith, Dwaine Pretorius, George Linde, Corbin Bosch, Rashid Khan, Kagiso Rabada (capt), Trent Boult.
PRETORIA CAPITALS: Will Smeed, Bryce Parsons, Shai Hope (wk), Dewald Brevis, Connor Esterhuizen, Sherfane Rutherford, Wihan Lubbe, Keshav Maharaj (capt), Lizaad Williams, Tymal Mills, Lungi Ngidi.