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DOUBLE DERBY DELIGHT HITS KINGSMEAD AND WANDERERS THIS SATURDAY

20 Jan 20243 mins

Following an exciting Cape Derby on Friday evening, Saturday delivers a double dose of derby action as Betway SA20’s ‘Super Weekend’ continues.

Kingsmead will stage a ‘coastal clash’ when Durban's Super Giants and Sunrisers Eastern Cape face off in the first match of the derby double-header starting at 13:30 SAST.

Thereafter, the second match will see Joburg Super Kings host Pretoria Capitals face off in a ‘big city battle’ at Wanderers (17:30 SAST).

Durban’s Super Giants are leading the table this season, after three wins on the bounce and still after being pegged back by Pretoria Capitals on Wednesday.

Despite coming up short on the highveld, DSG pace bowler Junior Dala was proud of how he and his teammates fought.

YOU CAN STILL MAKE YOUR WAY TO KINGSMEAD!

“If we can take anything from the batting and the bowling [into Saturday’s match against Sunrisers Eastern Cape]; with the bat we again showed fight towards the end and with the ball we showed fight. It’s just little areas upfront in the Powerplay where the game was won and lost.”

Dala, who came into the side for the first time this season, is confident that their first loss will not derail their campaign.

“The cricket we’re playing was hopefully evident in how we were going about our business and T20 cricket is one of those games where in the last game everything just seems to click and then the next not so much – come Saturday we hope that we’re 20-30 percent better. Those are the small margins we talk about in T20 cricket.”

In the meantime, Sunrisers Eastern Cape arrive in Durban on the back of a victory – their first of the season - on Tuesday over MI Cape Town at Newlands. That came thanks to rising star Jordan Hermann’s undefeated century.

For another one of their rising stars, Saturday’s fixture marks a homecoming – namely Andile Simelane, their rookie for Season 2.

“Durban is something special in my heart. Growing up there and starting to play cricket there… I’ve made a lot of history in Durban.”

While Simelane has yet to make his bow this season, the 20-year-old allrounder will be looking out for familiar faces whatever role he has in the coastal derby.

“I’m looking forward to going and playing at Kingsmead – the way I feel when I’m there, and playing I feel more confident. Also, I know that my family will be there and friends that will be there supporting me. So, I just can’t wait to go there.”

Meanwhile, on the back of three straight bonus point losses, Joburg Super Kings head coach Stephen Fleming is keen to find a “catalyst” to change the tide.

“We’ve made a few changes already searching for the right formula, but the nature of the losses has been the disturbing aspect – being out of the fight. So, we’re trying to find a catalyst for the season to get started but we’re just lacking a couple of things.”

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Fleming, who has coached Chennai Super Kings (JSK’s sister franchise) to all five of their Indian Premier League titles, will use all his experience and nous to bring success to the Wanderers based team.

“You concentrate on things you can control otherwise sometimes you look too far forward or get into a negative mindset like ‘why is this happening to me’ but rather concentrate on behaviours you can control. You’ve got to have a really positive outlook in this format – it can go horribly wrong but also very quickly it can go really right so mindset around that positivity and almost flushing away those bad performances and bluff your way into good form.

Fleming could find it in himself to joke that JSK were “flogged” last time they played at home, against MI Cape Town, but felt it was a positive to be home.

“Hopefully we’ll see a little bit more from each player, and coaches as well. We’ll make sure we don’t over analyse things but also a lot of attention to detail and care for the players.”

On the other hand, Pretoria Capitals middle-order batter, Colin Ingram was keen to emphasise how important it was to go into their derby with Joburg Super Kings with a win under their belt – after they started the campaign with back-to-back losses against Paarl Royals.

“If you’re zero from three you’re under pressure quite quickly, so it was a massive win for us [against Durban’s Super Giants]. Certainly there’s areas to improve on and I think the group has been quite honest about that, but great to get that first win.”

The 38-year-old left-hand batter, who carved a rapid-fire 43 on Thursday as Capitals set DSG an unassailable 205 to win, was keen to emphasise an element of the ‘work’ which lay ahead of them as they look to launch their season – starting at the Wanderers.

“We’ll be honest that there’s still a few things to work on; I don’t think we’ve settled on our combinations completely yet so [Thursday’s match] was a good learning curve and I think we’ll take a lot away for the next couple of weeks.”

FULL SQUADS FOR KINGSMEAD

Durban's Super Giants: Keshav Maharaj (captain), Noor Ahmad, Matthew Breetzke, Junior Dala, Quinton de Kock, Tony de Zorzi, Heinrich Klaasen, Kyle Mayers, Wiaan Mulder, Naveen-ul-Haq Murid, Bryce Parsons, Keemo Paul, Dwaine Pretorius, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Jon-Jon Smuts, Jason Smith, Marcus Stoinis, Prenelan Subrayen, Reece Topley.

Sunrisers Eastern Cape: Aiden Markram (captain), Tom Abell, Ottniel Baartman, Temba Bavuma, Liam Dawson, Sarel Erwee, Aya Gqamane, Simon Harmer, Jordan Hermann, Marco Jansen, Patrick Kruger, Dawid Malan, Adam Rossington, Caleb Seleka, Andile Simelane, Tristan Stubbs, Beyers Swanepoel, Daniel Worrall.

MATCH OFFICIALS FOR KINGSMEAD

Match referee: Barry Lambson

Standing umpires: Dennis Smith and Ryan Hendricks

TV umpire: Abdoellah Steenkamp

Reserve umpire: Philip Vosloo

FULL SQUADS FOR WANDERERS

Joburg Super Kings: Faf du Plessis (captain), Moeen Ali, Nandre Burger, Gerald Coetzee, Sam Cook, Leus du Plooy, Donovan Ferreira, Dayyaan Galiem, Reeza Hendricks, Ronan Herrmann, Zahir Khan, Wayne Madsen, Sibonelo Makhanya, Aaron Phangiso, Romario Shepherd, Kyle Simmonds, Imran Tahir, David Wiese, Lizaad Williams.

Pretoria Capitals: Wayne Parnell (captain), Matthew Boast, Corbin Bosch, Eathan Bosch, Shane Dadswell, Theunis de Bruyn, Daryn Dupavillon, Colin Ingram, Will Jacks, Senuran Muthusamy, Jimmy Neesham, Migael Pretorius, Adil Rashid, Rilee Rossouw, Phil Salt, Paul Stirling, Tiaan van Vuuren, Kyle Verreynne, Hardus Viljoen.