Kyle Verreynne of the Pretoria Capitals in action against JSK. Picture: SA20
Having beaten Gauteng rivals, the Joburg Super Kings, to get back into the mix in this year’s SA20 competition, the Pretoria Capitals are now eying a spot in the playoffs and the possibility of having five games left to play this year.
The Capitals beat JSK by six wickets in Centurion on Tuesday night to earn a bonus point and secure their place in fifth spot on the log. If they’re able to win their remaining two league games, both against MI Cape Town – at home on Friday and in Cape Town on Sunday – they should qualify for the knockout games next week.
New Capitals captain Kyle Verreynne, who took over from Rilee Rossouw on Tuesday, said his team were looking at having five games left in the competition.
“We need to win at least one of our next two games (to possibly qualify),” said Verreynne after his team’s win against JSK.
“It’s very pleasing we got this win. We’ve got some momentum now in the back stretch and if things go our way hopefully we have five games left in the tournament.”
Coach Jonathan Trott rung the changes for Tuesday’s game, bringing in the Australian duo of Ashton Turner and Tom Rogers along with local speedster Gideon Peters. Will Smeed also returned to open the batting alongside Will Jacks.
“We’ve had a tough run, so the message from myself and the coaches to the players was to keep it simple, to do the basics well,” said Verreynne.
“With the ball and in the field we were exceptional, we were also ruthless, something that has lacked in this tournament. When we had them under the pump we kept putting the pressure on them.”
Regarding the changes made to the team, the new skipper said: “With any sport when you freshen up, when you bring new guys in, you normally get an immediate impact. The guys sitting on the sidelines are usually hungry and want to contribute. There was lots of energy from them.”
After restricting JSK to 99/9 on Tuesday, the Capitals chased down the target in 12 overs with four wickets down.
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