Paarl Royals not counting their chickens just yet, says Bjorn Fortuin

Despite climbing to the top of the standings with their latest victory, spin bowler Bjorn Fortuin insists the Paarl Royals are not getting ahead of themselves as they target a place in the SA20 playoffs.

The Royals defeated Joburg Super Kings by six wickets with five balls to spare in Paarl on Monday, picking up their fourth win in five matches in the league stage of the competition.

They were two points clear of second-placed MI Cape Town at the summit of the table.

Last year, however, the Paarl outfit won their first three league games but then lost five of their next seven fixtures, settling for third place on the log before being knocked out in the first playoff eliminator.

Taking it game by game

Fortuin said it was crucial for the Royals to keep their heads down and focus on the task at hand, with five matches still to play in the league stage.

“We won’t count our chickens too early,” said Fortuin, who took 2/22 to lead the Royals attack against the Super Kings.

“In the past two seasons we’ve had good starts and then sort of fallen away towards the back end, so we’ll take it game by game.

“Obviously there are still areas where we can improve with bat and ball, but we’ll try to get as many wins as we can before the playoffs.”

Keeping things simple

Fortuin believed the Royals had found success by sticking to the basics, and by making Boland Park a fortress, having won all three of their home games so far this year.

“I think we’ve just been doing the simple things well,” Fortuin said.

“If you look at the past, we’ve had players who are quite explosive, and sometimes they come off and sometimes they don’t.

“There’s been a lot more consistency this year in terms of executing what we want to execute… and playing well at home also contributes a big part of that.”

Though his team had shone thus far, Fortuin said the quality of the competition would keep them on their toes, with the standard having been raised since the inaugural SA20 campaign in 2023.

“The common consensus is that this is probably the second-best league behind the IPL,” Fortuin said, “so the standard has definitely improved.”

The Royals will face Durban’s Super Giants in their next SA20 match at Kingsmead on Thursday.