AB de Villiers, Chris Gayle to feature in Mzansi Super League (MSL) 2019

The tournament is set to get underway on November 8.

View : 2.2K

5 Min Read

Mzansi Super League Trophy
info
Mzansi Super League Trophy. (Photo Source: Twitter)

The second season of the Mzansi Super League (MSL) is set to get underway on November 8 and the event promises to be a yet another star-studded affair with big names like AB de Villiers, Quinton de Kock, Chris Gayle and more to feature. The MSL 2019 will consist of six teams which will face each other twice before the top three teams qualify for the playoffs.

The finalists of the inaugural edition, Jozi Stars and Cape Town Blitz, will lock horns in the season opener at the Wanderers in Johannesburg. The top team in the points table will directly make it to the final while the second and third-placed sides will play the eliminator. Jozi Stars were the champions of the previous edition. The upcoming season is expected to be even bigger and better with the lot of South Africa and foreign superstars taking part in the tournament.

Teams add a few foreign players to the squad after retaining some of the South African stars

The player draft event took place in September this year as a total of 184 foreign players entered their name in the list. Each of the six teams had already retained a few of the cricketers from the first season and had to pick the players accordingly. Notable overseas players to turn up in the league this year are Wahab Riaz, Liam Livingstone, Alex Hales, Jason Roy, Chris Gayle, Daniel Christian and Moeen Ali (only for two matches).

Apart from these, the young talent in South Africa will also get to rub shoulders with the country’s top players like AB de Villiers, Kagiso Rabada and Faf du Plessis among others. A total of 32 matches will be played during the course of the tournament with the final set to be played on December 16. Even last year, the season had concluded on the same day. However, this time around MSL is starting 8 days earlier reducing the number of double-headers and has also given some breathing space to the teams between their matches.

Here are more details:

Live Streaming – The live streaming of MSL 2019 will be available on FanCode App in India.

Schedule

Mzansi-Super-League-2019-schedule

Team-wise key players

Cape Town Blitz

Quinton de Kock: Quinton de Kock recently led South Africa in the T20I series against India. He is one of the top players in the country at the moment and will be one of the important players for the Blitz this season as well. De Kock’s career T20 strike-rate in 169 T20s is 136.2 which prove that the wicket-keeper batsman is a consistent performer opening the innings for various teams.

Anrich Nortje: Anrich Nortje is one of the finds of the MSL’s inaugural edition after which he made his debut for South Africa this year. He featured in only three matches for the Blitz last year and went on to pick 8 wickets which made everyone take notice of him. He has pace and accuracy with him and can really trouble the oppositions with it.

Durban Heat

Alex Hales: Alex Hales hasn’t played much cricket in recent times and will be itching to get back on the field. He is an explosive opening batsman and can give the Heat some quick-fire starts in the powerplay. Hales will also be looking to stake his claim in the England T20 side with his performance in the MSL.

Ravi Bopara: Ravi Bopara has evolved as one of the better T20 batsmen over the years and is coming off a sensational T20 Blast title for Essex. His experience will certainly come in handy for the Heat.

Jozi Stars

Reeza Hendricks: Reeza Hendricks is another MSL product. He plundered runs for the Stars during their title-winning run. Jozi Stars will need their star opener to come good again on a consistent basis to defend their title.

Daniel Christian: Another player like Bopara is Daniel Christian. His all-round skills can be an asset to any team he plays in the shortest format. Christian is a brilliant death bowler and can add some quick runs with the bat for the Stars.

Nelson Mandela Bay Giants

Jason Roy: The name is enough to send shivers down the bowlers’ spine. Jason Roy is one of the best shorter formats batsmen at the moment and his exploits will decide how well the Giants play this season.

Farhaan Behardien: Behardein is one of the most underrated batsmen in the game. He can really tonk the ball batting down the order and in case of a collapse, can also rebuild the innings which he has done quite a few times in the domestic circuit. Behardien can also roll his arm over if needed at times.

Paarl Rocks

Faf du Plessis: Faf du Plessis played a few match-winning knocks for his team in the last season and more of the same is expected of him again. It is a relatively young side coupled with a few T20 specialists and Du Plessis will need to hold the innings together with the bat more often than not.

James Vince: Vince is one of the most elegant players going around in England. It is very much baffling to see him not make the most of the talent he possesses. However, once he gets going, Vince could destroy the opposition and also score big. Rocks will need his heroics to propel them.

Tshwane Spartans

AB de Villiers: Any team which has AB de Villiers in it is a title contender and it is no different with the Spartans as well. The dynamic batsman has to carry the team through along with some of the South African stars. 

Tom Curran: Tom Curran is one of the best bowlers at the death in T20 cricket. There is no doubt about the skills he possesses and the Spartans will need him to come good.

Top Players expected to derive maximum Fantasy Points

Cape Town Blitz: Quinton de Kock, Mohammad Nawaz

Durban Heat: Kyle Abbott, Alex Hales

Jozi Stars: Rassie van der Dussen, Farhaan Behardien

Nelson Mandela Bay Giants: Imran Tahir, Chris Morris

Paarl Rocks: Cameron Delport, Faf du Plessis

Tshwane Spartans: AB de Villiers, Waqar Salamkheil

Top Budget buys team-wise

Cape Town Blitz: Asif Ali, Janneman Malan

Durban Heat: Sarel Erwee, Khaya Zondo

Jozi Stars: Aaron Phangiso, Sinethemba Qeshile

Nelson Mandela Bay Giants: Beuran Hendricks, Isuru Udana

Paarl Rocks: Henry Davids, Bjorn Fortuin 

Tshwane Spartans: Tony de Zorzi, Waqar Salamkheil

FanCode App Link: https://fancode.onelink.me/tTJR/2e753142 

FanCode, from the house of Dream11, have acquired the rights to Stream the tournament Live on their App in India. FanCode, an all-Sports Live Streaming and Fantasy Research platform, had earlier this year bagged rights for key International events like Vitality Blast T20, Women’s Big Bash League, FIBA World Cup 2019 and many more.

Get every cricket updates! Follow Us:

googletelegraminstagramwhatsappyoutubethreadstwitter

Download Our App

For a better experience: Download the CricTracker app from the IOS and Google Play Store