Nelson Mandela Bay Giants captain Jon-Jon Smuts remains optimistic

21 November 2019 - 13:22 By Khanyiso Tshwaku
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Jon-Jon Smuts of the Nelson Mandela Bay Giants during the Mzansi Super League match between Tshwane Spartans and Nelson Mandela Bay Giants at SuperSport Park on November 13, 2019 in Pretoria, South Africa.
Jon-Jon Smuts of the Nelson Mandela Bay Giants during the Mzansi Super League match between Tshwane Spartans and Nelson Mandela Bay Giants at SuperSport Park on November 13, 2019 in Pretoria, South Africa.
Image: Lee Warren/Gallo Images

In his first media appearance after missing out on South Africa's T20 sojourn to India in September due to fitness issues‚ Nelson Mandela Bay Giants captain Jon-Jon Smuts wasn't a happy chappy.

However‚ he was still optimistic.

“I’ve been told the door is still open for me.

"That’s how I see it and if I still put in the performances‚ I may be considered‚” Smuts said on a chilly Spring morning at the Wanderers club.

It's taken a while for his performances to warm up in the currently lukewarm Mzansi Super League but on Wednesday against the Cape Town Blitz‚ his 51-ball 73 highlighted the value of converting a start‚ even in the shortest format.

His highest score of the season was the difference between the teams in a match that befitted it's top-of-the-table status.

The Port Elizabeth side are sitting pretty at the top of the MSL log after their five-wicket win against the Blitz at St George's Park.

Smuts‚ who played himself into reasonable form in Saturday's small but brutal chase against the hapless Jozi Stars at the Wanderers‚ was one of only two players who got to 30 and made it count.

The other was the simple yet effervescent Marco Marais‚ who's gradually becoming one of SA domestic cricket's most destructive finishers.

Marais's unbeaten 20-ball 40 ensured Smuts's work didn't go to waste while with the Blitz‚ Janneman Malan (31)‚ captain Quinton de Kock (39) and Liam Livingstone (39) all got starts without going big.

Had one of them gone to 50 or more‚ a chase of 200-plus would have been a possibility‚ not that it would've been out of reach for Smuts.

After all‚ this the same Smuts whose 121 in the Warriors' failed chase in the Cricket South Africa Franchise challenge final against the Highveld Lions comprised 63 percent of the team total of 192.

Only two other batsmen made more than 12 as the Warriors lost by 11 runs. There's been serious flickers of his ability but he has to sustain his form for as long as possible.

February 12‚ when SA play England in the first of three T20I's after four Tests and three ODI's‚ is still a long way away.

That game will be first of 11 T20's before the ICC T20 World Cup that'll take place in Australia late next year.

There's no full time selectorial structure at CSA that's gauging the current MSL performances.

There's also still a fair way to go in the tournament and the Blitz and the Tshwane Spartans could still keep the Giants in check if they win this weekend.

The Giants though could also pull away from the chasing pack if they beat Durban Heat on Saturday in PE.

The run leader board has a distinctly South African flavour to it with Livingstone in fourth (155 runs) the only foreigner in the top five.

Smuts sits sixth with 105 runs while Malan (165)‚ last season gun century maker and third highest run-scorer Reeza Hendricks (161) are first and second.

Temba Bavuma (160) and De Kock (146) complete the top five‚ but it's only a matter of time before those numbers change.

If there were full time selectors who had to make decisions‚ it would have been a tough time for them. Is the T20 batting future bright?

The rest of the tournament will determine that.

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