BROUGHT DOWN TO EARTH: Donovan Ferreira of the Joburg Super Kings has struggled after a great start to the SA20 competition.
The SA20 league is on a break for the ODI series between South Africa & England, & we look at the players who have excelled & those who have failed so far.
At an age (38) when most cricketers are in retirement, the former Proteas captain has shown his enduring quality.
Du Plessis signed off the first two-thirds of the tournament with the first century in SA20 history, lashing 113 not out off just 58 balls.
Du Plessis has also scored a half-century, so he has figures of 277 runs (second most) at an average of 46.16 and a strike-rate of 148.12. He has also been a typically determined captain, cajoling the Joburg Super Kings back into the top four on the log.
In a tournament meant to showcase young talent, Du Plessis has shown the value of experience.
Read more: Fabulous Faf slams first ton of SA20 as JSK beat Super Giants
The villages of the Boland have produced some brilliant talent and spinner Fortuin has really taken his chance to shine for the Paarl Royals.
An unassuming cricketer, the 28-year-old is not a huge turner of the ball, but his accuracy, mastery of flight and changes of pace have seen him star as one of the best new-ball bowlers in the league. He has an astonishing success rate in the first over of matches and it has been surprising to see so many top-class opponents trying to cut his arm-ball, an often fatal misjudgement.
Fortuin has taken 13 wickets (the second most) in eight matches and is conceding just 6.28 runs-per-over, which is astonishing considering he bowls mostly in the powerplay with only two fielders on the boundary.
Centurion is the den of the log-leading Pretoria Capitals and one of the main reasons for their success is the tremendous form of their fierce English opening batsman.
Jacks has not only plundered the third-most runs in the competition (270), but he has scored them at an astonishing strike-rate of 201.49.
Along with fellow opener Phil Salt, Jacks has ensured the Capitals are almost always operating from a solid platform with the bat.
The 24-year-old from Surrey is also a threat with his off-spin, having claimed some vital wickets, and a wonderful fielder. The Three Lions clearly have a huge talent in their midst.
The way Nortje has bowled for the Pretoria Capitals has been nothing short of sensational, and the thrill of watching his fast bowling has certainly contributed to the success of the league.
His pace never seems to wane, which is impressive considering his heavy workload over the last couple of months.
Coupling that raw speed with consistent accuracy is phenomenal. Nortje’s 13 wickets shows what happens when batters err; his economy rate of just 6.07 shows he seldom makes mistakes in terms of line or length.
The 24-year-old all-rounder arrived in South Africa having just received the wonderful Christmas present of a £1.85 million IPL deal, the most ever paid for a player at an auction.
But the advent of the SA20 saw the left-armer brought back down to earth quickly.
He has scored just 67 runs in seven innings, and taken just three wickets while conceding 9.42 runs-per-over for MI Cape Town.
We know the powerful left-hander is able to send the ball into the stratosphere, but unfortunately his head seems to have been in the thin wispy cirrus clouds that have hovered over the grounds in a tournament thankfully blessed with wonderful clear weather.
Rossouw has scored just 56 runs in seven innings for the Pretoria Capitals.
The Joburg Super Kings’ R5.5 million man began the tournament in sensational fashion with a matchwinning 82 not out off just 40 balls after Durban Super Giants had reduced them to 27/4.
But that knock now seems like a souvenir from a long-ago time, shoved in the back of the cupboard, as Ferreira has scored just 41 more runs in six innings.
T20 cricket would seem to be the ideal format for opener Roy, given his usual mode of going about his innings.
But the England veteran has scored just 100 runs in eight innings and his strike-rate is only 91.74 for the Paarl Royals. Playing his home games on the low-and-slow Boland Park pitch has also not helped someone struggling to find form.
Read more: SA20 RECAP – Everything you need to know so far
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