Super Kings bowlers ‘feeding off one another’, says in-form Sipamla

Though he did the most damage for his team on Sunday in their thumping victory over Sunrisers Eastern Cape, seamer Lutho Sipamla has credited the entire Joburg Super Kings bowling unit for a group effort thus far in the SA20 campaign, as they set their sights on the playoffs.

Sipamla ripped through the Sunrisers top order, taking 3/13 and putting the visitors on the back foot in their clash at the Wanderers.

His efforts paved the way to a nine-wicket bonus point win for his team, as they retained fourth spot in the league standings.

They were four points behind two-time league champions the Sunrisers, who remained in third position.

The Super Kings had an opportunity on Tuesday, however, to climb to third place, provided they beat the Pretoria Capitals in Centurion (5.30pm start) which would further strengthen their chances of securing a spot in the knockout stages.

In-form bowling unit

And Sipamla was full of praise for his teammates, who included the likes of Hardus Viljoen, who took 4/24 against the Sunrisers at the weekend, as well as Donovan Ferreira and veteran spinner Imran Tahir.

“Everyone is pulling their weight, and that’s all we’re trying to do, work as a unit,” said Sipamla, who was named Man of the Match.

“I think it’s bigger than looking at our individual performances, especially as a bowling unit. I think when everyone’s bowling well together, that allows us to move forward and gives us the best opportunity to be on the front foot in the game.

“I’m always happy to see other guys doing well, and I’m trying to learn from each and every one of them because everyone has a different skillset.

“We’re feeding off one another and the communication has been good on the field among the bowlers, which is helping a lot at the moment.”

Top-order collapse

Sunrisers coach Adrian Birrell admitted his team hadn’t really given themselves a chance following a top-order collapse that saw them hobble their way to a total of 118 all out.

In defence, they were unable to restrict their opposition, with the Super Kings coasting to victory with four overs to spare.

“We’ve been playing really good cricket, but we have struggled with our batting in the powerplay, and today after we were 17/4 it was hard to get a score on the board,” Birrell said.

“You don’t know whether to attack and try to get 160 to give yourself a chance or get there by having batters in hand at the back end. So we really got ourselves under pressure right from the start.”

The Sunrisers, in search of their third straight league title, will face MI Cape Town in their next match at Newlands on Wednesday.