After a throbbing 27-day action of league stages, the 2023-24 season of SA20 is going to get even more wild in its playoff round.
The fans will witness Joburg Super Kings challenging Paarl Royals in the battle of survival for the championship race. The solitary Eliminator clash of the 2nd edition will be taking place at Wanderers Stadium of Johannesburg this Wednesday.
It is the battle between two living legends of the Mzansi cricket, Faf du Plessis and David Miller who will be leading their respective sides in this elimination battle. The race for the SA20 silverware will be narrowed down to three teams as only one outfit from this contest can stay alive in the competition.
As the environment of both camps is heating up for the do-or-die clash, there is no second doubt that both team management will be fielding their full-strength lineups. Joburg may not prefer any changes in their Playing XI from the recent match in order to sustain further the winning momentum. Meanwhile, the likes of Lungi Ngidi, Obed McCoy and Tabraiz Shamsi who were rested in the Royals’ final league match will be returning back to the battlefield.
What have they done so far?
The Royals’ SA20 campaign kick-started with a bang as they proceeded to register emphatic victories in the first three fixtures followed by two more wins in the next three games.
However, the Western Cape-based franchise lost their winning momentum and suffered defeats at the hands of the Super Giants and Sunrisers twice. Despite losing four consecutive matches, it was much easier for the Pink and Blues to qualify for the playoff after finishing third with five wins.
A memorable cameo by Donovan Ferreira took JSK into the playoffs
On the other hand, the Gauteng-based outfit that finished among the top two previously faced many difficulties to replicate the same in this edition. Their claim on the trophy started fading away when they stood with only a single win in the first seven league fixtures.
In a surprising turn of events, a seven-wicket triumph over DSG and MI Cape Town’s losing fate in the last league game fared in the favor of the Super Kings as they eventually secured the fourth and final qualification ticket.
Head to Head Record
Joburg has been thoroughly dominated by Paarl in this head-to-head rivalry as the latter franchise is yet to register their first-ever win over the Mountaineers. Paar has emerged victorious in three out of four face-offs with the Yellows while one encounter between them could not produce any result.
Earlier this season, Paarl completed a hat-trick of league wins when they squared off with Joburg at the Boland Park. Jos Buttler’s unbeaten innings of 70 runs in 37 balls starred in the Royals’ comfortable run-chase of 135 on the home turf.
When the caravan moved to the Bullring, home side JSK showcased a relatively better batting performance than the previous one and posted the first-innings total of 168 on the board. However, it was still not enough to give real trouble to the visitors as PR successfully chased it down in the 19th over.
Key Players
Jos Buttler (Paarl Royals): The highest run-getter of the inaugural SA20 edition has successfully replicated his batting prowess this season as well. The Englishman has scalped 398 runs at a remarkable average of 44.22 in 10 appearances, outscoring his previous tally of 391 runs. In such a crucial turn of the journey, all eyes will be on Buttler to lay an explosive foundation for the Royals.
Williams has climbed on the top of the wicket charts
Lizaad Williams (Joburg Super Kings): The responsibility to take down Buttler and other prominent Royal batters will be on the shoulders of this right-arm pacer. Williams has emerged as the premier fast-bowling option for the skipper Faf and is currently joint highest wicket-taker of the season. He will be looking forward to overwriting his individual record against Paarl after being smashed at the run rate of a whopping 18.2 in two matches this season.
Predicted XIs
Paarl Royals: Jos Buttler (wk), Jason Roy, Wihan Lubbe, Mitchell Van Buuren, David Miller ©, Dane Vilas, Evan Jones, Bjorn Fortuin, Lungi Ngidi, Obed McCoy, Tabraiz Shamsi
Joburg Super Kings: Leus du Plooy, Faf du Plessis ©, Reeza Hendricks, Wayne Madsen, Moeen Ali, Donovan Ferreira (wk), Doug Bracewell, Dayyaan Galiem, Lizaad Williams, Nandre Burger, Imran Tahir
Prediction
The major prediction aspect that goes against the Royals is the current form as they haven’t tasted victory since the last four games. Moreover, the Super Kings will also have an added home advantage of playing in front of the Johannesburg crowd. Hence, it will be the home side that has a much higher chance of winning this contest and advancing to the Qualifier round for consecutive seasons.