Faf du Plessis of Joburg Super Kings and Aiden Markram of Sunrisers Eastern Cape. Picture: SA20
Both the Sunrisers Eastern Cape and Joburg Super Kings will be looking to play their best game of the SA20 competition when they clash in the Eliminator in Centurion on Wednesday night.
The winner will advance to Qualifier 2, to take on the Paarl Royals, who lost to MI Cape Town in Qualifier 1 on Tuesday, for a place in the final (against MI Cape Town) while the loser will be knocked out of the competition.
Both the Sunrisers and Super Kings have struggled this season, finishing with five and four wins respectively from 10 games played.
Sunrisers captain Aiden Markram, who’s led the team to back-to-back titles in the first two seasons, admitted on Tuesday his side have been well off the pace this year.
“We haven’t put together the full complete game of cricket yet,” said Markram ahead of the match in Centurion (5.30pm).
“We haven’t been near our best. If we can get to 85% we’ll be in with a shot, but if we’re operating at 60 to 70%, then it’s going to be tough. Obviously, this is where all the focus is, and there’s no better time than now, in the knockout stages, to get it right.”
Du Plessis, leading the Super Kings at age 40, said: “We’ve done okay … not amazing, but we’re showing signs of great things, and we’ll try get better every time.”
Both teams are fully aware they’ve been off the mark. The Super Kings have been hit hard by injuries this season, with several bowlers being ruled out of the competition and now all-rounder Donovan Ferreira is also out of Wednesday’s match.
“My biggest concern now is to get 11 players on the park,” joked Du Plessis on Tuesday.
“Donovan is now also injured. And, he’s been especially good with the ball, offensively and defensively. He’s almost been a trump card, the guy with the golden arm. We’re going to miss him, but there’s now a chance again for someone else to step up.”
If JSK have had bowling issues due to the big number of injuries, the Sunrisers have had batting problems, that is, they’ve struggled to put big scores on the board or chase down totals.
“It’s no secret we haven’t been good with the bat. It’s our bowlers who’ve bailed us out and kept us in games,” said Markram.
“When we have scored runs we’ve competed well and as a unit in this game we’ll want a decent score, to give our bowlers something to work with.
“We’ve felt we’ve scrapped away, chipped away, during the whole competition, found ways to win when we have, but now in the knockouts, none of that matters really.
“Now it’s one game at a time, and if we play well on the day, we’ll have a chance of winning.”
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