Migael Pretorius put in a Player of the Match performance as Pretoria Capitals claimed a bonus-point win against Joburg Super Kings in Centurion. Pretoria restricted JSK to a mere 99 for 9 as right-arm pacer Migael Pretorius led the bowling charts with figures of 3 for 22, while pacer Gideon Peters (2 for 15) and left-arm spinner Senuran Muthusamy (2 for 15) took two wickets each.
Pretoria Capitals are still in the race to the playoffs in SA20, thanks to their dominating bonus-point win over Joburg Super Kings (JSK) on Tuesday, which was set up by their bowlers.
Pitch Report and Toss
Pitch Report : ” The conditions are really dry. 78 meters down the ground. 60 and 62 on the square. They love hitting sixes here. It is a little bit soft at the bottom of the wicket which means it could be two-paced and when the lights come on, it could get better for batting.
Cross bat shots are quite difficult in the afternoon, when you hit the top of the stumps you are always forcing the batter to make him play and the consistency on top of off is important as a bowler. In the last 12 overs, when the sun starts going down you can really cash in as a batter,” reckon the trio of Pommie Mbangwa, AB de Villiers and Chris Morris.
Toss : Pretoria Capitals skipper for rest of the tournament Kyle Verreynne in place of regular skipper Rilee Rossouw won the the toss and chose to bowl with as many as five changes in the playing XI. Joburg Super Kings skipper Faf Du Plessis batting first made no changes in the playing XI.
Migael Pretorius and bowlers bowls JSK to 99 for 9 in 20 overs in a dominant bowling display
Kyle Verreynne captained the Capitals in the absence of Rilee Rossouw who did not play due to the birth of his child. The Capitals won the toss and elected to bowl first.
Initially, the wicket didn’t seem to be as bouncy of a track as the match against the Sunrisers a few weeks ago, however, the ball seemed to move off the pitch for the seamers and was ” skiddy” which occasionally rushed some of the batters through their shots.
The Johannesburg Super Kings struggled and reached a total of 99 runs for 9 wickets at the end of their 20 overs. Only three batters scored above 10. Aside from Du Plessis’ failed ramp shot, the majority of the batters got out to good fielding and excellent pressure applied from the bowling side.

Asked to bat on a two-paced surface in Centurion, the Super Kings were scratchy and circumspect as Will Jacks started the game off with a two-run over. Tom Rogers cleaned up Faf du Plessis in the fourth over, and JSK limped to 36/1 by the end of the PowerPlay. They lost their way further through the middle period as the trio of Migael Pretorius (3-22), Gideon Peters (2-15) and Senuran Muthusamy (2-15) were relentless in constantly breaking through.
Pretoria restricted JSK to a mere 99 for 9 as right-arm pacer Migael Pretorius led the bowling charts with figures of 3 for 22, while pacer Gideon Peters (2 for 15) and left-arm spinner Senuran Muthusamy (2 for 15) took two wickets each. England veteran Jonny Bairstow was the top-scorer for JSK with his 30 off 32 balls, and the next best were skipper Faf du Plessis and Donovan Ferreira with 14 each.
Jonny Bairstow’s labored 30 off 32 proved to be the best effort of the innings as only two other batters (du Plessis and Donovan Ferreira) even managed to get to double figures. The Super Kings managed to score 20/3 in the last five overs to set the Capitals a 100-run target.

The notable performer for the Super Kings during the first innings was English batter Johnny Bairstow who scored 30 runs off 32 balls. Wickets regularly tumbled around him. Unfortunately, he got out to a ball from Migael Pretorius that pitched outside off and jagged back into middle stump.
The Capitals bowled consistently well throughout the first innings which restricted the Super Kings to an overall run rate of just 4.50 at the end of their 20 overs.
Gideon Peters (who made his debut for the Capitals) took 2 wickets for 15 runs at the end of his 4 overs and seemed to consistently bowl between 135-143 km/h throughout his spell. The 25-year-old who currently plays for the North-West Dragons picked up the prize scalps of Devon Conway (who got given out after the Capitals successfully reviewed the on-field decision) and picked up Moeen Ali by LBW just two balls later.
Migael Pretorius also performed well by picking up 3 wickets for just 22 runs at the end of his 4-over spell. Aside from the ball that got Bairstow, he dismissed Hardus Viljoen by getting him caught and bowled (for 2 runs off 10 balls). He also got Imran Tahir out caught by Tom Rogers for just 4 runs off 7 balls.
Senuran Muthusamy also performed well by getting 2 wickets for just 15 runs off 3 overs. Eathan Bosch took an excellent catch on the leg-side boundary to help him obtain his first wicket of Wihan Lubbe whilst Will Smeed caught Super Kings All-Rounder Evan Jones. The Capitals were required to score 100 runs at the end of their 20 overs to win the match.
Marques Ackerman shine with 39 runs after Sipamla’s 3-fer as PC won by 6 wickets
The wicket continued to prove to be difficult to consistently score runs off during the Capitals’ second innings. After hitting Ali and Sipamla for sixes, Jacks got out caught behind by Bairstow off the bowling of Sipamla. He had scored 15 runs off 9 balls.
Fellow Englishman Will Smeed fell shortly afterwards by getting caught at cover off the bowling of Hardus Viljoen. He had scored just 7 runs off 9 balls. At this stage of the match, the Capitals were 39 runs for the loss of 2 wickets.
Lutho Sipamla then gave them faint hope with two early scalps, while Hardus Viljoen picked one too, leaving the chasers three down inside the PowerPlay. However, Capitals got the scorecard moving swiftly, getting to more than half their target in the first six overs. Marques Ackerman (39 off 22) showed urgency as his team chased a bonus point.

The in-form South African batter Marques Ackerman joined the captain Kyle Verreynne at the wicket. He started off by successfully driving and pulling Lutho Sipamla for two fours. In the 8th over Ackerman also successfully cover-drived and pulled Pathirana for two consecutive fours.
Prior to getting out he also successfully pulled Hardus Viljoen for six over the leg-side boundary. Sipamla eventually got him out caught on the deep fine-leg boundary by Hardus Viljoen. Ackerman ended with a score of 39 runs off 21 balls to effectively win the match for the Capitals.

He went after Matheesha Pathirana, Imran Tahir and Viljoen to take his side to 89/3 at the halfway stage. Sipamla returned to stop Ackerman in his tracks but the remaining 11 runs were polished off by the end of the 12th over.
From a bowling standpoint, Lutho Sipamla was an outstanding performer for the Joburg Super Kings. He ended the match with figures of 3 wickets (out of a total of 4 that was taken in the whole innings) for just 26 runs off his 4 overs. Similarly to his performance at the Wanderers on Sunday, he continued to change his length and used appropriate variations to keep his side in the match.
Although some good catches were taken during the second innings, I felt that the Super Kings could have fielded a lot better than they did. There was a dropped catch on the boundary (where Ackerman was the batter) and the odd misfield which I felt allowed the Capitals to stay ahead. If the Super Kings are to advance further and potentially win the competition, they need to maintain their usual high fielding standards.
The Capitals successfully scored 100 runs with 4 wickets down at the end of 12 overs to successfully win the match. The win has resulted in the Capitals moving within one point of the Super Kings and consequently within one point of a playoff spot.
Presentations and Road Ahead
Kyle Verreynne the winning PC skipper said : It’s been a tough couple of days so I’m pleased to get the bonus point. We were nice and clinical with the ball and the guys finishing it off with the bat was pleasing. We only played two games at home earlier so it was good to come back.
There was nice energy out there. (On captaincy) I enjoy it, I have done it domestically so happy to captain the side today. I’m proud how they went about it. In theory, we have two games left but it can become five games. We need to enjoy our game and play with a smile on our faces and that will hold us in good stead for the next two games.
Faf Du Plessis the losing JSK skipper said : Frustrating day for us, a day where a lot of things went wrong for us. We got bundled out for 100 and it was very easy for the opposition to chase it down. (On the pitch) It was strange. I faced a couple of balls at the start and the ball spun and gripped sharply, usually the ball comes onto the bat at SuperSport Park.
You still think that SuperSport Park is a 180-200 wicket and you try to get that and don’t change your game plan. As a batting team, you need to adjust. As a team, we needed to be more competitive. If we had scored 140, we could have had a chance, probably not enough but we still had a chance. We got two games around and I suppose the form we have got at home is encouraging but today was disappointing.
Migael Pretorius Player of the Match for his 3 wickets said : It was good, we had a lot of changes and it’s good that everyone came together and did their thing and I’m happy with my performance. I enjoyed bowling at the end as well and I think it went out well. We try and simplify things a bit more, the top of the off-stump is the best place to bowl. I think bowling a yorker is a good thing for me. (On his favorite wicket) Definitely Bairstow, have to say that.
Pretoria Capitals are still in the race to the playoffs in SA20, thanks to their dominating bonus-point win over Joburg Super Kings (JSK) on Tuesday, which was set up by their bowlers. Pretoria restricted JSK to a mere 99 for 9 as right-arm pacer Migael Pretorius led the bowling charts with figures of 3 for 22, while pacer Gideon Peters (2 for 15) and left-arm spinner Senuran Muthusamy (2 for 15) took two wickets each.
England veteran Jonny Bairstow was the top-scorer for JSK with his 30 off 32 balls, and the next best were skipper Faf du Plessis and Donovan Ferreira with 14 each. Pretoria reached the target with ease in just 12 overs for a six-wicket win, led by Marques Ackerman’s 39, and are now at number five on the points table, while JSK are at number four.
JSK’s Lutho Sipamla was once again among the wickets with his spell of 3 for 26, as the Pretoria chase didn’t begin on a promising note. They were 51 for 3 in Powerplay, losing the wickets of Will Jacks (15), Will Smeed (7) and captain Kyle Verreynne (17). However, JSK didn’t have enough runs on the board to defend in the end. The top four teams qualify for the playoffs.
PC have aced the run-chase convincingly and have also acquired the bonus point. The hosts won an important toss and inserted JSK into bat. Verreynne’s bowlers responded in style as they bowled consistent lines and lengths and also reaped the rewards. JSK were found wanting on a two paced-surface as only three of their batters managed to get into double figures and that tells you the story. 99 was never going to be enough even though their was assistance for the bowlers.
PC were aiming for the bonus point and they started with an aggressive mindset. Jacks hit a couple of maximums to get going but fell trying to take the expansive route. Soon after, Smeed fell cheaply and then Verreynne also couldn’t convert his start into anything substantial. Ackerman was dropped off his second ball and he made them pay.
He struck some eye-catchy boundaries to take the game away from the Super Kings. Although Ackerman fell against the run of play, his cameo killed the game. The Capitals achieved the target in 12 overs to gain a bonus point and have also done a world of good to their net run-rate.
The Capitals have done well to bounce back in style after three defeats in a row and are still in with a decent chance to make it to the playoffs. It was a bad day at the office for the Super Kings but they will be playing their last two league games at home and that will certainly boost them up.