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"description": "Daily Maverick is an independent online news publication and weekly print newspaper in South Africa.\r\n\r\nIt is known for breaking some of the defining stories of South Africa in the past decade, including the Marikana Massacre, in which the South African Police Service killed 34 miners in August 2012.\r\n\r\nIt also investigated the Gupta Leaks, which won the 2019 Global Shining Light Award.\r\n\r\nThat investigation was credited with exposing the Indian-born Gupta family and former President Jacob Zuma for their role in the systemic political corruption referred to as state capture.\r\n\r\nIn 2018, co-founder and editor-in-chief Branislav ‘Branko’ Brkic was awarded the country’s prestigious Nat Nakasa Award, recognised for initiating the investigative collaboration after receiving the hard drive that included the email tranche.\r\n\r\nIn 2021, co-founder and CEO Styli Charalambous also received the award.\r\n\r\nDaily Maverick covers the latest political and news developments in South Africa with breaking news updates, analysis, opinions and more.",
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"contents": "<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The two teams that have been far and away the best throughout the third edition of the SA20 will face off in the first qualifier today with a spot in the final at The Wanderers on Saturday up for grabs.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Both Western Cape sides MI Cape Town and Paarl Royals finished the league campaign of the tournament with seven wins in their 10 matches, but the side from Cape Town pipped their provincial rivals to the head of the table by having accrued five bonus-point wins.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Royals outfit, in comparison, have secured zero bonus points, indicating the close nature of their seven victories.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">MI Cape Town have been dominant, with their 35 log points the highest ever across the first three seasons of the tournament. This is particularly impressive given how wayward the first two seasons have been for the blue-and-gold kitted side. </span>\r\n\r\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2575489\" src=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/ROY14167-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1671\" /> <em>Paarl Royals captain David Miller hits the winning runs as Paarl Royals beat Joburg Super Kings by six wickets. (Photo: Shaun Roy / SA20 / Sportzpics)</em></p>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“In the last couple of years we played good cricket but we didn’t finish well,” said MI Cape Town captain Rashid Khan. “We didn’t get the points and didn’t get the results.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“This year, as a team, we’ve played really well. It’s not just a couple of guys with the ball or with the bat, it’s an overall team effort.”</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">MI Cape Town have four batters in the top 12 run scorers list this season in Rassie van der Dussen (330), Ryan Rickelton (259), Reeza Hendricks (212) and Dewald Brevis (219).</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">They also have three bowlers in the top 12 wicket takers list. Leading the way is skipper Khan (nine), followed by Corbin Bosch (eight) and George Linde (eight). </span>\r\n<h4><b>Root-less Paarl</b></h4>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Paarl Royals have been equally excellent, particularly at home, where they went undefeated. They did, however, slip up in their final two matches of the league phase, against Joburg Super Kings and Sunrisers Eastern Cape — the two sides that qualified for the playoffs in third and fourth.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“The consistency has been phenomenal,” Paar Royals captain David Miller said. “Yes, the last two games have been losses, but if you look at the whole season, we’ve been really consistent.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“It’s not a concern for me at all. The guys are in a great space, rested up nicely, preparing really well and up for the battle.”</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What was different in those two matches? Well they were the only games the Royals played without England Superstar Joe Root. In eight innings Root scored 279 runs at an average of 55.8 with a strike rate of 140.2. He also took five wickets at an economy rate of seven with his filthy off-spin bowling. </span>\r\n\r\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2575491\" src=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/ROY19786-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" /> <em>Sunrisers Eastern Cape captain Aiden Markram looks for a run. (Photo: Shaun Roy / SA20 / Sportzpics)</em></p>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“It’s fair to say that you can’t really replace someone of that calibre in the sense of what he’s achieved and given us in this competition,” Miller said about Root.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“I truly believe that we have a squad that is very adaptable. The guys coming in are super positive and really skilful. Mitch Owen from Australia has come in. He gives us that power up front, and he can bowl as well.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“There’s been games when Rooty hasn’t done so well and the rest of the guys pulled up their games. I don’t think it’s a problem for us at all, it’s not something we have spoken about. The guys are really up for what comes their way.”</span>\r\n<h4><b>A new finalist</b></h4>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Paarl Royals have made the playoffs in every season of the SA20 so far, but have yet to reach the final. MI Cape Town, meanwhile, were basement dwellers for the first two seasons. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The jump from last to first has been massive, and according to both head coach Robin Peterson and captain Khan, the leadership of the side has played a big role in the team’s upward tick.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“The first year I came here I wasn’t familiar with all of the players, so it was a little bit harder for me,” said Khan, who was captain of MI Cape Town in season one of the SA20 but missed out on the competition in season two.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“Later on we got to know each other very well, and as a captain I understood how to have conversations with different players,” the Afghanistani skipper added.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“This year when I came I had a chat with Robbie (Peterson) and I explained I want to lead the team like I want to lead Afghanistan. What went well this year was that I knew the players really well.” </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Tuesday’s top-of-the-table clash will see either MI Cape Town or Paarl Royals make their first appearance in a final at The Wanderers on Saturday, while Sunrisers Eastern Cape and Joburg Super Kings will battle it out tomorrow.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The winner of Wednesday’s match faces the loser of Tuesday’s match for the other spot in the final. </span><b>DM</b>",
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"description": "<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The two teams that have been far and away the best throughout the third edition of the SA20 will face off in the first qualifier today with a spot in the final at The Wanderers on Saturday up for grabs.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Both Western Cape sides MI Cape Town and Paarl Royals finished the league campaign of the tournament with seven wins in their 10 matches, but the side from Cape Town pipped their provincial rivals to the head of the table by having accrued five bonus-point wins.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Royals outfit, in comparison, have secured zero bonus points, indicating the close nature of their seven victories.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">MI Cape Town have been dominant, with their 35 log points the highest ever across the first three seasons of the tournament. This is particularly impressive given how wayward the first two seasons have been for the blue-and-gold kitted side. </span>\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_2575489\" align=\"alignnone\" width=\"2560\"]<img class=\"size-full wp-image-2575489\" src=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/ROY14167-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1671\" /> <em>Paarl Royals captain David Miller hits the winning runs as Paarl Royals beat Joburg Super Kings by six wickets. (Photo: Shaun Roy / SA20 / Sportzpics)</em>[/caption]\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“In the last couple of years we played good cricket but we didn’t finish well,” said MI Cape Town captain Rashid Khan. “We didn’t get the points and didn’t get the results.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“This year, as a team, we’ve played really well. It’s not just a couple of guys with the ball or with the bat, it’s an overall team effort.”</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">MI Cape Town have four batters in the top 12 run scorers list this season in Rassie van der Dussen (330), Ryan Rickelton (259), Reeza Hendricks (212) and Dewald Brevis (219).</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">They also have three bowlers in the top 12 wicket takers list. Leading the way is skipper Khan (nine), followed by Corbin Bosch (eight) and George Linde (eight). </span>\r\n<h4><b>Root-less Paarl</b></h4>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Paarl Royals have been equally excellent, particularly at home, where they went undefeated. They did, however, slip up in their final two matches of the league phase, against Joburg Super Kings and Sunrisers Eastern Cape — the two sides that qualified for the playoffs in third and fourth.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“The consistency has been phenomenal,” Paar Royals captain David Miller said. “Yes, the last two games have been losses, but if you look at the whole season, we’ve been really consistent.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“It’s not a concern for me at all. The guys are in a great space, rested up nicely, preparing really well and up for the battle.”</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What was different in those two matches? Well they were the only games the Royals played without England Superstar Joe Root. In eight innings Root scored 279 runs at an average of 55.8 with a strike rate of 140.2. He also took five wickets at an economy rate of seven with his filthy off-spin bowling. </span>\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_2575491\" align=\"alignnone\" width=\"2560\"]<img class=\"size-full wp-image-2575491\" src=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/ROY19786-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" /> <em>Sunrisers Eastern Cape captain Aiden Markram looks for a run. (Photo: Shaun Roy / SA20 / Sportzpics)</em>[/caption]\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“It’s fair to say that you can’t really replace someone of that calibre in the sense of what he’s achieved and given us in this competition,” Miller said about Root.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“I truly believe that we have a squad that is very adaptable. The guys coming in are super positive and really skilful. Mitch Owen from Australia has come in. He gives us that power up front, and he can bowl as well.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“There’s been games when Rooty hasn’t done so well and the rest of the guys pulled up their games. I don’t think it’s a problem for us at all, it’s not something we have spoken about. The guys are really up for what comes their way.”</span>\r\n<h4><b>A new finalist</b></h4>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Paarl Royals have made the playoffs in every season of the SA20 so far, but have yet to reach the final. MI Cape Town, meanwhile, were basement dwellers for the first two seasons. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The jump from last to first has been massive, and according to both head coach Robin Peterson and captain Khan, the leadership of the side has played a big role in the team’s upward tick.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“The first year I came here I wasn’t familiar with all of the players, so it was a little bit harder for me,” said Khan, who was captain of MI Cape Town in season one of the SA20 but missed out on the competition in season two.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“Later on we got to know each other very well, and as a captain I understood how to have conversations with different players,” the Afghanistani skipper added.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“This year when I came I had a chat with Robbie (Peterson) and I explained I want to lead the team like I want to lead Afghanistan. What went well this year was that I knew the players really well.” </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Tuesday’s top-of-the-table clash will see either MI Cape Town or Paarl Royals make their first appearance in a final at The Wanderers on Saturday, while Sunrisers Eastern Cape and Joburg Super Kings will battle it out tomorrow.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The winner of Wednesday’s match faces the loser of Tuesday’s match for the other spot in the final. </span><b>DM</b>",
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Paarl Royals captain David Miller hits the winning runs as Paarl Royals beat Joburg Super Kings by six wickets. (Photo: Shaun Roy / SA20 / Sportzpics)
Sunrisers Eastern Cape captain Aiden Markram looks for a run. (Photo: Shaun Roy / SA20 / Sportzpics)