FIT AND STRONG JANSEN PRIMED FOR BETWAY SA20 SEASON 3

Sunrisers Eastern Cape allrounder Marco Jansen is fit and firing and ready to go “harder and longer” this coming Betway SA20 Season 3. 

Jansen, 24, has just returned to international cricket after a lengthy strength and conditioning break. The lanky left-arm seamer was confined to “gymming and running” since the T20 World Cup final back in June before tentatively making his way back for North West Dragons in the domestic T20 Challenge last month.

But the leading wicket-taker in Betway SA20 Season 2, which included a match-winning five-wicket haul in the final against Durban’s Super Giants at Newlands, is back leading the Proteas’ attack in the ongoing T20I series against India.

After a tentative comeback before recovering well at the death in the first T20I in Kingsmead, Jansen was bang on the money in the second match at his beloved St George’s Park. 

With intimate knowledge of the conditions, he sent out an outstanding opening maiden wicket over, which included the scalp of Durban centurion Sanju Samson for a duck.

With a busy international schedule across formats for Jansen prior to the Betway SA20 Season 3 starting in January, he detailed how the conditioning break has geared him up physically for the demands that lay ahead.

“The first month was all about rehab. It was about getting my shoulder and hips strong again. The two months were purely about building strength,” Jansen said. 

“It feels like I can go harder for longer, can I bowl at a good intensity for a longer period of time. I also feel a lot quicker in the field. 

“It is definitely going to help me in the latter part of the season. I am also trying to maintain it while I am playing, and that’s been a challenge.”

Jansen’s immediate challenge though is to help the Proteas overcome India at Centurion today in the third T20I. 

That will depend largely on how Jansen and Co. fare with the ball, especially during the frenetic Powerplay overs which India have looked to attack during this series.

Equally, with the game being played on the Highveld, there are unique challenges in comparison to the bowler friendly surfaces of the coast. 

“It is always difficult in the Powerplay. These guys don’t second guess themselves. They go full tilt,” Jansen said.

“The ball travels much more than at the coast. We have to try to take wickets at regular intervals, that will hopefully restrict them to a low total.

“We took a lot of confidence from the last four/five overs (at St George’s Park). It is simple: we know they go hard in the first six and the last six. 

“We can’t control what they do. We can only control what we are trying to execute.”

SQUADS FOR CENTURION

SOUTH AFRICA: Aiden Markram (captain, Sunrisers Eastern Cape), Reeza Hendricks (MI Cape Town), Ryan Rickelton (MI Cape Town), Tristan Stubbs (Sunrisers Eastern Cape), David Miller (Paarl Royals), Heinrich Klaasen (Durban’s Super Giants), Donovan Ferreira (Joburg Super Kings), Patrick Kruger (Sunrisers Eastern Cape), Marco Jansen (Sunrisers Eastern Cape), Andile Simelane (Sunrisers Eastern Cape), Mihlali Mpongwana, Gerald Coetzee (Joburg Super Kings), Keshav Maharaj (Durban’s Super Giants), Nqaba Peter (Paarl Royals), Ottneil Baartman (Sunrisers Eastern Cape), Lutho Sipamla.

INDIA: Suryakumar Yadav (captain), Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh, Sanju Samson, Hardik Pandya, Abhishek Sharma, Ramandeep Singh, Axar Patel, Jitesh Sharma, Ravi Bishnoi, Varun Chakravarty, Yash Dayal, Arshdeep Singh, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Avesh Khan. 

Start: 5pm