Linde ready for SA20
Friday 6th January 2023
Kent’s overseas star for 2022 & 2023 is ready to represent his hometown in South Africa’s new franchise T20 tournament, the Betway SA20, beginning next week.
George Linde has spent the UK Winter with his native Six Gun Grill Western Province (WP) side based at Newlands, & will be gearing up to feature in the inaugural SA20 match on Tuesday 10 January – he was purchased by MI Cape Town for ZAR 3.9m, who face Paarl Royals in the first match of the competition at 14:30 UK time, live on Sky Sports.
He will line-up alongside former Kent overseas star Kagiso Rabada, as well as England’s Sam Curran, Liam Livingstone & Olly Stone.
Kent begin their 2023 season in twelve weeks time with an LV= Insurance County Championship clash with Northamptonshire.
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Before the SA20, the left-hander has been involved for WP across all formats, including a one-day cup final. He took the wicket of former Northamptonshire overseas player Ryan Rickelton in the CSA Provincial One-Day Challenge Division One final against the DP World Lions, but the Lions would run out winners by 62 runs.
Across the Provincial One-Day Challenge, Linde averaged 30.66 with the bat as the all-rounder hit 184 runs in seven innings – including 70 from just 34 balls in Bloemfontein against Free State.
With the ball, his left-arm orthodox spin accounted for 15 wickets at an average of only 19.86, with a best return of 4-34 against North West at Newlands, who were skipped by a former Kent star in Heino Kuhn.
“I’ve been pleased with my performances for Western Province since recovering from my injury I picked up during the English Summer,” he says. “It was great to get to a final in the one-day game but I’ve also been pleased with how I’ve performed in T20s and red-ball matches, too.”
During the CSA T20 Challenge, Linde was WP’s second highest run-scorer with 136 runs in six appearances, but it was his bowling that proved invaluable. His bowling kept scoring tight for the opposition as he created pressure on batters – going for a economy of just over 6.00 in most matches.
“I’m feeling good going into the SA20 – it’s an exciting new tournament that raises the profile of South African domestic cricket.
“I’m really happy to be playing at my home ground for MI Cape Town and alongside a lot of talented guys. It’s good to see so many big names coming to play T20 cricket in SA too and I know this will put eyes on some of our younger guys to see how they fare against some of the world’s best.”
Also heading to the SA20 is Jordan Cox, who was purchased for ZAR 350k by Sunrisers Eastern Cape, owned by the IPL’s Sunrisers Hyderabad. They play their first match against Pretoria Capitals on Thursday 12 January with the first potential Kentish clash of Sunrisers Eastern Cape versus MI Cape Town on Monday 16.
Every match of the SA20 will be broadcast on Sky Sports Cricket in the UK.
“Coxy is a fantastic cricketer with a lot of talent – this isn’t news to anyone now! It’ll be good to catch up with him at some point.
“I’m really looking forward to coming back to Kent for the start of the next English season. I’ve got back into my rhythm of how I like to bowl and how I like to bat with no fear – something I will be the first to admit wasn’t quite there in my first season at Kent.
“It’ll be good to be back in England after what will hopefully be a successful SA20 and a good end to the domestic season with Western Province – I’m looking forward to bringing some form back with me to Canterbury to make more contributions for Kent, which has become like a second home for me.”
Kent Spitfires’ T20 opener is against Gloucestershire at The Spitfire Ground, St Lawrence in Canterbury on Wednesday 24 May 2023 – entry to all scheduled T20 home matches is included in Kent Cricket Memberships, on sale now.
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