Pite van Biljon returns from international duty to skipper the Knights for the upcoming Cricket South Africa T20 Challenge. ANDRE HUISAMEN selects three players who could be key to their campaign.
The Bloemfontein outfit unfortunately missed out on a place in the Momentum One-Day Cup final after their semi-final clash rained out. The Knights carry a degree of confidence and some form to Durban, hoping to upset a few teams along the way.
Pite van Biljon
After playing in a number of T20Is in the past, Van Biljon finally showed decent glimpses of his capabilities in Pakistan. The top-order batsman expressed his big-hitting nous on a number of occasions, emphasising just how dangerous he can be in the T20 format. Van Biljon will lead a young but exciting Knights squad into the T20 Challenge, hoping to anchor their quest of achieving success at Kingsmead.
Raynard van Tonder
The 26-year-old was in devastating form with the bat during the first half of the 4-Day Franchise series. Van Tonder emerged as a bright new SA talent but needs to establish himself in the shorter format now. He missed out on the Momentum One-Day Cup and was called up to the Proteas squad for the Sri Lanka series, meaning he hasn’t played cricket since early December. He will be an exciting watch if he can get himself in and settled during the upcoming matches. It will also be interesting to see how he goes against some of the more experienced bowlers in the competition.
Migael Pretorius
Similarly, Pretorius has been just as good a find for the Knights in recent months. He has been lethal, with both bat and ball, in the 4-Day Franchise series thus far and can really turn up the heat steaming in. Pretorius will look to shine alongside the likes of Gerald Coetzee, Ferisco Adams, Alfred Mothoa and Grant Mokoena. The Knights bowling attack could prove somewhat unpredictable and here Pretorius could have a big influence.
Knights squad: Pite van Biljon (c), Mbulelo Budaza, Jacques Snyman, Andries Gouws, Gerald Coetzee, Patrick Kruger, Shaun von Berg, Grant Mokoena, Farhaan Berhardien, Alfred Mothoa, Ferisco Adams, Wandile Makwetu, Raynard van Tonder, Matthew Kleinveldt, Jonathan Vandiar, Migael Pretorius.
