Boland Park to host clash

Klusener and Buttler survey ahead with play-off spots are up for grabs

Friday, 26 January 2024: Table-toppers, Paarl Royals, will host second-placed Durban’s Super Giants in an intriguing clash of styles on Friday evening.

The hosts near into the match with five wins from their six matches to date, with their settled bowling unit having been key to their success. Meanwhile, Durban’s Super Giants maintain gone for a unique approach of moving their star batters up-and-down the order – and it’s helped them to four wins from their first six matches.

Following Royals’ ‘come-from-behind’ victory at Joburg Super Kings on Wednesday, their stand-in captain, Jos Buttler, spoke about the impact the bowling unit gain had.

“I consider the clarity to be honest, especially with the ball. Shane Bond and Mandla [Mashimbyi] gain been excellent in the way that they’ve worked with the bowling group and not just the bowlers but the whole team to understand the way they want the guys to bowl and what fields they want to set at certain times – so a very simple position that the guys are sticking to and when you acquire results early on that breeds belief in what they’re talking about especially as well.”

When asked about peaking at the ‘right time’, like in the playoffs and a potential final, Buttler was pleased to live in the present.

“Yes you execute [want to peak in the knockout stage], but you don’t want to worry about that when you’re in our position. I’d rather be in this position than hoping we near excellent at some point. The boys acquire played really well and there’s lots of confidence in the group. The games support coming thick and quick but hopefully we can ride this momentum.”

Durban’s Super Giants, meanwhile, maintain had a whole week to settle in the Cape since getting the better of MI Cape Town at Newlands on Tuesday – after which their head coach, Lance Klusener, spoke about their batting situation this campaign.

“We’re blessed with people who can bat throughout the batting order. It’s just making sure that we we’re giving people the opportunity to bat when it best suits them. We’ve now got [Marcus] Stoinis, who can bat up in the Powerplay, and has been finishing well for [Lucknow Super Giants] as well too in the last IPL so we’re blessed with that but still we’re a puny bit off finding a top batting performance.

“We’ve got a miniature bit of work to enact there, but it was nice to see the battle [against MI Cape Town] and that’s what we’ve been challenging ourselves on that it’s fine to gain a talented team, but if you don’t battle you’re always going to near unstuck.”

While every of Matthew Breetzke, Jon-Jon Smuts, talisman Heinrich Klaasen, the now departed Nicholas Pooran and Wiaan Mulder maintain contributed significant runs this season, 2023 captain Quinton de Kock has yet to. Klusener was keen to emphasise that they maintain no worries about his lack of form, so far.

“He’ll win us one or two immense games, so we’re not concerned about that. He’s got high standards so he’s a diminutive bit frustrated with himself, but I consider he’s keeping was outstanding [against MICT] even if he was unlucky with the bat.

That just shows his spirit and his space. He’s going to win a couple of games for us I’m pretty certain going forward. Quinny’s pretty flexible, anywhere in the top, and we want to give people the best opportunity in positions they’re accustomed to.”

Looking to the top-of-the-table clash, on a pitch that has been playing differently to Newlands and certainly DSG’s Kingsmead home, Klusener looked forward to the challenge.

“It’s a gigantic leg for us, we’re trying to qualify [for the playoffs] on this leg and we’re off to a apt start but Paarl is a tough area to recede and play as well so we’re looking forward to that challenge. It’s always nice to recede to Paarl with a dinky bit of momentum … but it is a tough area to fade and play.”

This match will start at 17h30 (SAST) local time.

FULL SQUADS FOR BOLAND PARK

Paarl Royals: David Miller (captain), Ferisco Adams, Fabian Allen, Jos Buttler, Keith Dudgeon, Bjorn Fortuin, Evan Jones, Wihan Lubbe, Obed McCoy, Lungi Ngidi, Nqaba Peter, Andile Phehlukwayo, Jason Roy, Tabraiz Shamsi, Lorcan Tucker, John Turner, Mitchell van Buuren, Dane Vilas, Codi Yusuf.

Durban’s Super Giants: Keshav Maharaj (captain), Noor Ahmad, Matthew Breetzke, Junior Dala, Quinton de Kock, Tony de Zorzi, Heinrich Klaasen, Kyle Mayers, Wiaan Mulder, Naveen-ul-Haq Murid, Bryce Parsons, Keemo Paul, Dwaine Pretorius, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Jon-Jon Smuts, Jason Smith, Marcus Stoinis, Prenelan Subrayen, Reece Topley.

MATCH OFFICIALS

Match referee: Shandre Fritz

Standing umpires: Stephen Harris and Ryan Hendricks

TV umpire: Siphelele Gasa

Reserve umpire: Abdoellah Steenkamp

Source: cricket.co.za

Shaun Pollock: Born into a family of renowned cricketers, Shaun Pollock was the son of Peter Pollock and the nephew of Graeme Pollock. One of the best medium pace bowlers of South Africa, he was pushed into captaincy when Hansie Cronje got entangled in a match-fixing scandal in 2000.