The regular season concludes in the SA20 competition on Tuesday when the table topping Pretoria Capitals play host to the Paarl Royals in what should be a great way for the first phase of the inaugural campaign to conclude.
The Capitals know that whatever happens here they will be making the short trip to Johannesburg for the semi-final on Wednesday. The Royals only need to avoid a heavy defeat here to ensure they too will be in the final four.
Pretoria Capitals
Overall this has been a pretty decent season for the Pretoria Capitals but they go into this match off the back of a pretty hefty beating last time out and they are at something of a crossroads for this contest. The game means nothing to them in terms of the semi-final or finishing top of the table. That is already secured so now they need to decide whether to go strong and build some winning vibes again or make sure everyone is rested for the semi-final on Wednesday.
The Capitals rested their bowling unit on Sunday and paid the price as they surrendered 250 to the Durban’s Super Giants. They won’t want that to happen again but then the last thing they need is for their bowlers to pick up an injury, especially with their captain Wayne Parnell already out injured. It will be interesting to see how Pretoria go about things here because they can’t really win whatever they end up doing.
Paarl Royals
The Paarl Royals begin the day in fourth place in the table and they need to lose by something like 65 runs or in quicker than 15 overs for them not to make it through to the semi-finals. That will be their initial aim in this match but should they win the game it would mean that they get to play in the Thursday semi-final on this ground and that day between matches could be crucial. It isn’t ideal though so it will be interesting to see how they line up as well.
One thing in the favour of the Royals is they set up very nicely for this SuperSport Park ground. Their batters haven’t enjoyed some of the turgid pitches they have played on in the early stage of this tournament but the wicket here has played well all season with the ball coming nicely onto the bat. That should be right up their street as they go in search of a morale boosting win to send them into the semi-finals feeling good about things.
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Key Players
Jimmy Neesham is catching balls like a lunatic at the minute and he is starting to come to the party with the ball in recent games. He hasn’t really clicked with the bat but with some batting depth missing for the Capitals, they could do with their Kiwi overseas player delivering with the bat too.
You would imagine Jos Buttler has been licking his lips at the opportunity to play on a relatively small ground where the ball flies and the outfield is lightning fast. These are the conditions he traditionally fills his boots in and there is nothing to suggest that won’t happen here.
Betting
Even though the sixes have been in regular supply on this ground the line hasn’t shifted any and we still have a 12.5 sixes line to go at for this match. That was covered in the first innings here in the previous match when the Durban’s Super Giants went mental and you would have to say that man for man there are probably as many big hitters in this Paarl camp if not more than there was in the Durban one. The caveat was that Pretoria rested all their key bowlers but I don’t think there is a guarantee they play here.
In the second innings of that match here on Sunday, Pretoria were bowled out for 103 inside 14 overs but they still deposited six sixes over the ropes and that in itself shows how easy hitting sixes are on this ground. We know it is at altitude and we know the ball flies further. We also know the pitches are coming onto the bat beautifully at SuperSport Park and as a result of that the batters are able to play with confidence and freedom. I expect more than a dozen sixes in this one.
Tips
Back Over 12.5 sixes for a 3/10 stake at 1.83 with BetVictor
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