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HALFWAY REPORT: GLEESON, MUJEEB MAKE THE EARLY RUNNING AMONG BOWLERS
At the halfway stage of the Betway SA20 Season 3, two bowlers sit atop the Bowler of the Season leaderboard – Richard Gleeson and Mujeeb Ur Rahman.
Both Gleeson and Mujeeb are newbies to their SA20 teams, Sunrisers Eastern Cape and Paarl Royals respectively, but Gleeson is familiar with the competition. The 37-year-old English seamer played three matches for Durban’s Super Giants last year, as an early season replacement.
That taster was enough to convince Sunrisers hierarchy to seek him out to fill the vacancy created by Daniel Worrall not returning to St George’s Park for Season 3. Gleeson has settled quickly further down the coast and repaid the faith put on him by not only claiming 8 wickets to date but also being among the more economical bowlers (11th overall with 6.71) in the League. Specifically, he is the third-most economical non-spinner.
GLEESON’S STATS | MATCHES: 5 | WICKETS: 8 | AVERAGE: 14.25 | ECONOMY: 6.71 | BEST BOWLING: 2/12
Meanwhile, Mujeeb has slotted seamlessly into Royals bowling line-up which has always had multiple spinners in it.
The lanky Afghanistan ‘mystery’ spinner has used his variations – whether wrong’un, top-spinner, Carrom ball or stock off-spinner – to excellent effect to keep batters in check. In so doing he is also the only bowler to have claimed a wicket in every match of Season 3 so far, proving that it’s not only the favourable conditions at Boland Park which he can excel in.
MUJEEB’S STATS | MATCHES: 5 | WICKETS: 8 | AVERAGE: 18.75 | ECONOMY: 7.5 | BEST BOWLING: 2/27
Being early in the season, there are a number of bowlers hot on Gleeson and Mujeeb’s tails. Mujeeb’s teammate, Dayyaan Galiem and Durban’s Super Giants’ Noor Ahmad have both claimed seven wickets, Marco Jansen is on six wickets while seven players have taken five wickets so far.
Thanks to his 5/10 in the season-opener against Sunrisers, MI Cape Town’s Delano Potgieter still has the best individual performance and his average (7.6) remains by far the best of the campaign. In terms of economy rate, Joburg Super Kings’ Donovan Ferreira is going at a miserly 5.86 – incredible if you consider he was their first-choice wicketkeeper last season!
