The Joburg Super Kings will be hoping it’s fourth time lucky as they chase a place in this season’s SA20 final, having been knocked out in the play-offs in the three previous seasons of the competition.
But they will first have to get past the Paarl Royals in the Eliminator in Centurion on Thursday just to have a crack at the loser of Wednesday night’s first Qualifier between the Sunrisers Eastern Cape and Pretoria Capitals, that being the Sunrisers on Friday.
JSK qualified for the play-offs in fourth place on the log, after beating the Royals by 44 runs in Paarl on Monday in a must-win game and they now face the same opposition, but this time at SuperSport Park; the Royals having finished third in the standings.
The teams’ first meeting this season, at the Wanderers, was rained out at the interval after JSK had posted 187/6 in their 20 overs.
Opportunity for someone to stand up
While the Joburg-side are without key players such as Rilee Rossouw, Faf du Plessis and Donovan Ferreira, who have all picked up injuries during the campaign, stand-in captain James Vince says there’s plenty of confidence in the squad after their win on Monday.
“It’s nice coming into the game on the back of a win; it came at the right time for us. It’s given us some confidence and self-belief again after a bit of a dodgy run,” said the Englishman.
“But, while it’s the same opposition, it’s also a new day, a new game, and new conditions. It’s going to be completely different to Paarl and will be a different challenge.”
While Vince said it had been a challenge to lose key players during the competition, there was now a chance again for someone to step up for JSK.
“There have been contributions from our whole squad during the competition. Different people have stood up at different times,” said the opening batter.
“I’m confident come tomorrow [Thursday] one or two guys will put their hands up and hopefully put in a match-winning performance. We know in T20 cricket it only takes one or two guys to come out on the right side [of the result]. Hopefully we can get the job done.”
The Royals go into the game on the back of two defeats and concern about their captain David Miller, who apparently hurt his groin during last Monday’s match.
