SA20 season two finalists Super Giants cut down to size in season three

Durban’s Super Giants captain Keshav Maharaj and Durban's Super Giants coach Lance Klusener talk to their players in the huddle. (Photo: sportzpics.co.za)

By Keanan Hemmonsbey

28 Jan 2025

‘Individuals are short of runs,’ coach Lance Klusener lamented about the main worry for Durban’s Super Giants this season.

Durban’s Super Giants are the first team to be out of contention for the playoffs in this year’s Betway SA20 competition after claiming only one victory in their opening nine matches.

Their performances this season and in 2024 are like night and day, having won seven out of 10 regular season matches in that year and made it to the final before finishing as runners-up to two-time champions Sunrisers Eastern Cape.

According to Super Giants coach Lance Klusener, the team’s poor performances this year are simply down to lack of form, particularly in the batting department where there has been a shortage of big runs.

“Individuals are short of runs,” he said. “You can sit and entertain yourself with the stats from last year or the stats from this year and they just don’t match up.

“If your batters are not scoring runs, your bowlers are always under pressure.

“If I could put a finger on [why this has happened] I would have fixed it.

“We could come back next month and people could be in form and it would be a different competition and that’s what franchise cricket is.”

Batting woes

Batter and player of the tournament in season two, Heinrich Klaasen’s batting average (40.63 v 17.42) and strike rate (207.9 v 122) have both dropped by about half in the same tournament 12 months apart.

It’s something you can’t account for as a coach.

Opener Matthew Breetzke, who was third on the run-scoring charts in season two with 416 and a strike right in excess of 130, has struggled to get bat to ball this season. After six innings he has not yet passed a total of 100 runs and his strike rate is slower than run-a-ball.

The only Super Giants player to have shown some consistency with the willow this season is New Zealand’s Kane Williamson, who is among the top five run scorers, but his strike rate (119.88) is the lowest in the top 10.

“You get a group of players and as a coach there’s not much coaching really, you hope they’re in form and if they’re not, you battle like we did,” Klusener said.

“If your top players are not putting their hands up and scoring runs, it looks ugly.”

They have also not had much consistency in the order and makeup of their batting lineup. DSG’s rookie, Bryce Parsons, scored a quickfire 47 off 28 deliveries at the top of the order in his side’s first match of the season – and their only win – against Pretoria Capitals.

SA20 Durban’s Super Giants Durban Super Giants captain Keshav Maharaj and coach Lance Klusener talk to their players in the huddle. (Photo: sportzpics.co.za)

He was replaced by West Indies’ Brandon King – who in four innings has scored 24 runs at an average of six and a strike rate of 82.75 – in the next two matches, and he has struggled to adjust to South African conditions.

Parsons has only played three matches this season but has the highest batting average after Williamson.

Legendary Proteas opener Quinton de Kock, meanwhile, has strangely shifted between number four and three in the preliminary stages of the tournament, with limited success. After six matches he was eventually moved to the position in which he has found all his limited-over success.

Compassion

The Super Giants’ bowlers haven’t hit last season’s heights either.

Young Afghanistani left-arm wrist spinner Noor Ahmad was an unknown entity for most teams last season as he collected on average two wickets a match at an eye-catching average of 11.33 and an economy rate of under six.

This season, both those numbers have shot up, taking only 10 wickets in eight innings with the ball at an average of 20.3 and an economy of seven.

Despite the scrappy performances throughout season three of the SA20 and the team being out of contention for the playoffs, Klusener believes it’s important to not lose the dressing room.

“You have to keep the players going and keep them positive,” he said. “You keep them seeing good things and hearing good things. You can lose that changeroom overnight. You have to be very careful with that.

“Great players know that performances are around the corner, it’s just one innings away.

“It didn’t happen for us in the last couple of weeks. We’re sad and disappointed with that, but that’s sport. You can’t just hit a certain number of balls and guarantee a performance. That’s just how it is.”

How does a coach dealing with a team down on confidence speak to his players? It depends, but leading with compassion is the starting point.

“Some need a hug, some need love, some need a kick and someone [else] probably needs an arm around his shoulder,” Klusener said. “You don’t paint everyone with the same brush.” DM

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South Africa

Batting woes

Compassion