Week two of the Mzansi Super League begins on Wednesday
Week two of the Mzansi Super League begins on Wednesday evening at SuperSport Park with the Tshwane Spartans properly kicking off their campaign against the Nelson Mandela Bay Giants.
The Giants‚ who put together a coherent performance when beating the defending champions the Jozi Stars on Sunday‚ will want to build on the middle order strength that allowed them to get past their slow start and post a defendable total.
Their top order failed at St George's Park‚ but in Heino Kuhn and Farhaan Behardien they had seasoned batting heads who steered them to a more than decent total.
If KwaZulu-Natal's wet weather did not get in the way‚ there would have been an idea as to what the Tshwane Spartans have in store and what are their best batting and bowling combinations.
With the Giants‚ their spin strangulation is critical to their strategy and in Port Elizabeth‚ it worked like a charm.
Imran Tahir and Jon-Jon Smuts bowled eight overs that went for only 55 runs with two wickets collected.
In a chase of 168‚ that meant the other runs had to be sought off the likes of Chris Morris‚ Nandre Burger‚ Onke Nyaku and Junior Dala‚ who were miserly.
The nature of the SuperSport Park surface will also dictate the composition of the Giants' attack‚ which was well balanced on Sunday.
While the Jozi Stars' top-order misfired‚ the Spartans' one will have a lot to prove after last season's disappointing showings.
AB de Villiers‚ Heinrich Klaasen‚ Dean Elgar and Theunis de Bruyn have plenty to prove and make up.
It's still early in the season‚ but what MSL 1.0 showed was that big names don't always generated the best results.
The Tshwane Spartans were star-studded last season‚ but it was the lesser lights like Gihahn Cloete and Lutho Sipamla who led the way.
With Morne Morkel and Lungi Ngidi‚ the Spartans also have world-class bowling operators who can operate on any surface.
Wednesday evening's game in Centurion is the first of what will be another busy MSL weekend if the weather allows.
Thursday's clash sees the Cape Town Blitz hosting the Jozi Stars with Friday's fixture seeing Durban Heat face off against the Paarl Rocks.
The Stars and the Giants resume their rivalry at the Wanderers on Saturday while Sunday's double bill sees the Heat host the Blitz while Paarl Rocks play against the Spartans.