Super Kings ‘very confident’ ahead of Gauteng derby against Capitals

After getting off to a cracking start in their SA20 campaign, veteran spin bowler Imran Tahir says the Joburg Super Kings are full of confidence ahead of their derby clash against Pretoria Capitals at the Wanderers on Thursday (5.30pm start).

While former finalists the Capitals have won only one of their opening three fixtures (one was rained out), the Super Kings triumphed in their first two games and are looking to gain further momentum against their Gauteng rivals.

However, ahead of last night’s match between MI Cape Town and Paarl Royals, the Pretoria Capitals were lying third on the log, just one place behind the Joburg Super Kings, and a lot more than bragging rights will be on the line on Thursday in the ongoing battle for top spot in the league standings.

“If you win your first two games it gives you a lot of confidence as a team, so I feel that everyone’s very confident,” said 45-year-old Tahir, who played 165 matches for the Proteas across all three formats between 2011 and 2019.

“We had a great seven or eight days camping in Johannesburg (ahead of the tournament). Even though it rained every day, we put a lot of effort in as a team. We went indoors to do our training sessions and outdoors whenever we got the opportunity.

“So it’s nice to see the reward coming. We’ve had a good start and I’m sure we can take this momentum going forward into the next game against Pretoria Capitals.”

Spin bowlers ‘spoiling the party’

After eight matches in the tournament (one of which was rained out) the spinners have led the charge in the early stages of the SA20 season, with two slow bowlers among the top three in the wicket-taking list – Senuran Muthusamy of Pretoria Capitals and George Linde of MI Cape Town – and five spinners among the top 10.

Tahir, who took 1/29 in his first game this year for the Super Kings against Durban’s Super Giants on Tuesday, hoped the spinners in the league would continue to make an impact throughout the 2025 SA20 campaign.

“As a spin bowler in modern-day cricket you don’t really have many things in your favour, with small boundaries, flat wickets and big bats, and the players are really good,” Tahir said.

“So I think we just have to keep things very simple and go with our plans of what we do in practice sessions, trying to bowl to our batters, speaking to them and seeing how we can make it difficult for them, and that’s what we’re trying to apply when we play.

“A spinner can spoil the party and we’re really hoping it will carry on until we play the last game.”