The Joburg Super Kings ended their three-match losing streak on Saturday, January 20, with their six-wicket victory of the season due to Donovan Ferreira’s incredible death-overs onslaught against the Pretoria Capitals. At a packed Wanderers, Donovan Ferreira hit the fastest half-century in tournament history in just 18 balls and finished at 56 not out to help JSK chase down the Pretoria Capitals’ 167-run target.
Pitch Report and Toss Update
Although the Wanderers’ pitch is known for having good batting conditions, bowlers are expected to receive some support, especially early in the game. The pitch looked like it would probably help spinners as the game progressed. So the Pretoria Capitals won the toss and elected to bat first in the game.
Pretoria Capitals’ top-order collapsed against Burger and William’s opening spell
Choosing to bat first at the Wanderers didn’t exactly put Pretoria off to an ideal start. The Powerplay produced two wickets each from Nandre Burger (2-30) and Lizaad Williams (3-26), who put the visitors on the line at 38/4 at the end of the fifth over.
Neesham and Corbin Bosch too couldn’t do much, and by the end of the ninth over, that had quickly escalated to 67/6 as Romario Shepherd and Imran Tahir joined the wicket-taking fray. At this stage of the game, it looked like the Capitals would bundle out on a below-par score, and it would be an easy cakewalk for the Super Kings.
Now the only known batter from the lineup was Kyle Verreynne, who got dropped by Romario Shepherd when he was on 29 runs. The Capitals were struggling on 69/6 at the half-way stage of the inning.
Kyle Verreynne’s brilliant knock helped the Capitals reach a competitive total
Despite the wickets kept falling from the other end, debutant Kyle Verreynne held the one end and played a solid knock for his team. In order to help his team steal 98 runs in the second half of their batting innings to reach 167, Kyle Verreynne, who played the anchor role, put up a strong 72, not out of 52 deliveries.
Verreyne’s extraordinary comeback was aided by cameos from Wayne Parnell (22), Adil Rashid (15), and even Hardus Viljoen (who whacked a six and a four after walking out for the final two deliveries). Verreyne kept finding the scoreboard ticking over, with an occasional boundary to himself.
With Nandre Burger (2/30), Lizaad Williams (3/26) and Romario Shepherd (3/39) taking eight of the Capitals’ wickets between them, the Super Kings seamers were on fire.
The Super Kings started sluggish after Will Jacks struck twice in the powerplay
The previous match MVP for the Capitals, Will Jacks, didn’t make an impact with the bat but gave his team a perfect start with the bowl. Struggling with his poor form, the skipper of the Super Kings’ du Plessis started off well with the two consecutive boundaries in the Will Jacks’ first over, but Jacks cleaned him up on the third delivery of his spell.
Jacks didn’t waste much time and struck again in his second over to clean bowled Reeza Hendricks to make the Super Kings struggle at the score of 39/2 at the end of the powerplay. The 70-run partnership between Leus du Plooy (33 off 21) and Sibonelo Makhanya (40 off 31), however, got the chase back on track.
Rashid gave the Capitals the much-needed wicket immediately after the half-way point, with JSK on 86, and Jimmy Neesham struck shortly after to put the hosts in trouble at 94/4. In the course of just 14 balls and with the addition of just eight runs, the Super Kings had lost both of the set hitters.
Donovan Ferreira’s show ends JSK’s three-match losing streak
The Super Kings needed to score 54 runs from the last five overs due to the slowdown, but JSK and Donovan Ferreira executed a brilliant comeback to finish the chase with two overs remaining. During Neesham’s death-over spell, Donovan Ferreira hit Neesham with two sixes and three boundaries; thus, Neesham took the brunt of the attack.
A 22-run 17th over from Viljeon, between two costly overs from the New Zealander, saw Moeen Ali and Donovan Ferreira’s pair smash two sixes and as many boundaries between them to bring up their team’s maiden season triumph. While Donovan Ferreira scored an 18-ball fifty in what proved to be the game’s final over, Moeen Ali contributed a crucial 25 not out from 21 deliveries.
With Donovan Ferreira’s match-winning knock with two overs remaining, the Johannesburg Super Kings, who were sorely hoping for a good outcome, secured their first SA20 victory of the season by comprehensively defeating the Pretoria Capitals.