Mpumalanga Rhinos vs Northern Cape, CSA 4-Day Division 2, Today Match Prediction 07 November 2024

MMR vs NCAPE Match Prediction & Analysis

Whenever a team plays their first game of the season in any competition, there is plenty of optimism around and we certainly expect to see plenty of that from Northern Cape ahead of this match. Whether or not Mpumalanga Rhinos are able to produce the same level of optimism remains to be seen, particularly as they finished propping up the table last season with only one victory in total!

But Mpumalanga Rhinos do have a new management team ahead of this season and head coach Mbasa Gee, backed up by his assistant Gerhard Vosloo, will bring in with them some new ideas as well as a clean slate.

Northern Cape also have a new coaching setup after Mark Charlton moved on following successive top of the table finishes. But more than anything, they still have a very strong group of players who will be full of confidence as they target a third division two championship in a row.

TEAMS PREVIEW

Mpumalanga Rhinos Preview

In the last head to head against Northern Cape, Mpumalanga Rhinos produced only 185 in the first innings of the game with captain Jurie Snyman making 131 of those runs and only Nhlanhla Dlamini making double figures as well!

Admittedly, that was in Kimberley at the Diamond Oval when the Rhinos were the visiting side and they will be hoping that home advantage counts for something this time.

One positive for for the Rhinos in that match was that seven of their eight-man bowling attack picked up a wicket although they did also concede 502 runs in total!

All in all, there will be hope due to it being a new campaign, but Mpumalanga Rhinos must improve in all aspects in this opener or else it could be another very tough season.

Mpumalanga Rhinos Predicted Playing XI:

Jurie Snyman (c), Muhammed Mayet, Yassar Cook, Nhlanhla Dlamini, ALexander Kok, Benjamin Niekerk (wk), Hermann Rolfes, Jon Hinrichsen, Gregory Mahlokwana, Kieran Kenny, Akhulile Mkatu

Northern Cape Preview

Northern Cape have a very strong squad and have the depth in both batting and bowling where any of their players could step-up and deliver a match-winning performance at any time.

Starting with their opening batting pair of skipper Ernest Kemm and Jason Oakes, who put on a partnership of 80 the last time they took on Mpumalanga, not to mention Grant Thomson, who is likely to bat at number four, they have technically correct batters, capable of building long innings against pace or spin.

With the ball, Johannes van Dyk will have been counting down every day of the last 11 months ahead of this fixture in particular as he was the standout bowler when the sides last met, returning figures of 5/40 in the first innings and 5/30 in the second innings.

Northern Cape Predicted Playing XI:

Ernest Kemm (c), Jason Oakes, Christopher Britz, Grant Thomson, Juan Landsberg, Hanu Viljoen (wk), Romano Terblanche, Emmanuel Motswiri, Johannes van Dyk, Zakhele Qwabe, Jerome Xaba

Weather Conditions

The temperature looks set to jump around a bit across the four days of this game with the opening day seeing highs of twenty degrees, twenty-four on day two and thirty on day three. However, day four will be back down to twenty-two and all of the days are expected to be littered with some rain interruptions.

MMR vs NCAPE Pitch Report

We can expect a surface which produces consistent, quick and true bounce over the opening two days of the match, which should be good news for the batters of both teams. Unlike a typical South African four-day pitch, we are not predicting a huge amount of deterioration as the forecast is for plenty of moisture in the air and rain from the skies. As a result, there will be pressure on the bowling attacks to deliver on a pitch which may still be good for batting come day four.

Toss: To Bowl

A lot may depend on how thick the cloud cover is at the toss as, although it will undoubtedly be a strong pitch for batting on, we can expect to see movement off the wicket and through the air throughout the game. Therefore, we expect both teams to want to field first in this match.