Paarl Royals dominate SA20, secure playoff spot amid rising competition from Cape rivals

Lutho Sipamla of Joburg Super Kings celebrates the wicket of Jordan Hermann of Sunrisers Eastern Cape. (Photo: Sportzpics.co.za)

By Keanan Hemmonsbey

27 Jan 2025

With one week of regular-season action left, the Betway SA20 table has painted a clear picture of the favourites heading into a thrilling final period.

The dominant Paarl Royals have sealed their spot in the SA20 playoffs with three more matches to play after recording six victories in their first seven matches of the tournament.

Their provincial neighbours, MI Cape Town – underachievers in the opening two seasons of the SA20 – are hot on their heels with 21 points to Paarl Royals’ 24.

The other Cape side, the Sunrisers Eastern Cape, went on a four-match winning run to put themselves among the top crop with 19 points.

Joburg Super Kings have kept themselves in the hunt with a clinical nine-wicket win over the Sunrisers on Sunday to break the Eastern Cape side’s winning streak.

Pretoria Capitals and Durban’s Super Giants, on nine and eight points respectively, are still in with a mathematical chance of qualifying but the gulf in class between themselves and the other teams has been apparent so far this season.

Spin attack

The formidable Paarl outfit, led by Proteas finisher David Miller, have been particularly effective at home, strangling opposition to death by spin.

In their 11-run victory over Pretoria Capitals on Saturday, in which they successfully defended 140 in Paarl, they bowled their full complement of 20 overs with spin bowlers — the first time this has happened in franchise cricket.

“We’re quite diverse as a spin group,” left-arm orthodox Bjorn Fortuin said after the match. “We’ve got myself and (Dunith) Wellalage that both bowl left-arm spin, but different left-arm spin, if that makes sense,” said Fortuin.

“Mujeeb (Ur Rahman) bowls liquorice allsorts, you never know what’s going on there. (Joe) Root is just trying to keep things quiet. You’ve got Nqaba (Peter) who joined us, so we complement each other well, but I think we adapt well, as well. Root could do my job in the powerplay, for instance.

George Linde in action for MI Cape Town. (Photo: Sportzpics.co.za)

Lutho Sipamla of Joburg Super Kings celebrates the wicket of Jordan Hermann of Sunrisers Eastern Cape. (Photo: Sportzpics.co.za)

“Mujeeb could bowl at the death like Root did. So it was quite interchangeable. Anyone could have bowled at any point, and fortunately it worked out well for us.”

Despite setting a lowly total over the weekend, the Paarl Royals still boast the leading run scorers in the tournament. Root, who struck an undefeated 78 off 56 deliveries against the Pretoria Capitals, overtook his opening partner as the highest run-getter so far. The English superstar has scored 279 runs at an average of 69.75, while 18-year-old starlet Lhuan-dre Pretorius has 258 runs at 36.85.

Paarl Royals’ biggest challenges will come deeper into the tournament. Root is part of England’s one-day international squad for their series against India, which means he will miss the SA20 knockouts for his Paarl side, having been a vital cog in getting them to the playoffs.

The venue for the final is also predetermined and will take place at The Wanderers in Johannesburg. If the Paarl Royals finish at the top of the tree and successfully navigate the playoffs, they won’t have their home conditions where they have flourished.

Congested middle

Having finished at the bottom of the table for the past two seasons, MI Cape Town are one victory away, in their last three matches, from sealing their first SA20 playoff spot.

“There’s a different vibe in the camp (this season),” destructive all-rounder George Linde said after his team’s seven-wicket win over Durban’s Super Giants on Saturday evening.

“(Captain) Rashid Khan has returned this season and he knows the players well. You can see the hunger to succeed, especially after the tough past seasons. We owe it to ourselves and the fans.”

Joburg Super Kings, meanwhile, got their campaign back on track on Sunday with a bonus-point win over the high-flying Sunrisers Eastern Cape after suffering three defeats and one no-result in their last four matches.

They completely outplayed the men from Gqeberha, bowling Aiden Markram’s men out for 118 after an inspired opening spell by Lutho Sipamla (3-13) and Hardus Viljoen (4-24) who combined to take four Sunrisers wickets in the powerplay.

The Orange Army never recovered and Joburg Super Kings chased the small score down with six overs to spare and a bonus-point sealed in front of their home crowd. DM

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Spin attack

Congested middle