Roelof van der Merwe rolling back the years for the Sunrisers in SA20

Netherlands international Roelof van der Merwe is thoroughly enjoying the inaugural SA20 competition, with the bowling all-rounder starring for his franchise, the Sunrisers Eastern Cape.

After not being selected for the Sunrisers opening two games, which they lost, Van Der Merwe was then brought into the side and helped turn their fortunes around as they won four of their next six games to put themselves firmly in the play-off hunt.

When the competition took a weeks’ break last week, for the Protea-England ODI series to take place, Van der Merwe found himself at the top of the wicket taking charts, having taken 14 wickets while conceding just 109 runs in 23 overs, with an incredible average of 7.79.

Despite being in scintillating form, the former Proteas and Titans star played down his achievements so far, while admitting he was happy to be back in South Africa.

“It has been going well and we have been winning games. So it has been a win-win from that aspect. The tournament only really gets going now towards the business end of it, so hopefully I can put in a few more good performances,” said Van Der Merwe.

“I love coming back and playing here. Obviously South Africa is still a massive part of me. So it’s been a great opportunity for me to play and go around the grounds again and enjoy the awesome support here.

“It has been awesome. It’s been well supported which is great to see. Selling out grounds is always a good thing and the vibe around it has been very good. So I have been thoroughly enjoying it.”

Career best figures

Van Der Merwe continued: “We are still in the mix which is nice. With these types of tournaments you get players from everywhere coming together and trying to figure out a way to win and we have come close to what we want to achieve.

“So it’s been going well. Two more games to go and we can hopefully book ourselves a place in the semis.”

Van Der Merwe’s star performance for the Sunrisers so far in the competition was an incredible spell of bowling against Durban’s Super Giants in Gqeberha, where he picked up career best T20 figures of 6/20 in his four overs to help his side to a huge 124-run bonus point win.

“Those days don’t come that often. It was just one of those days for me so I will take it and run. I felt very good bowling that day and it is probably the best bowling performance I have ever produced. But now it’s about repeating it, so let’s see if I can go get another six-fer, that would be great,” said Van Der Merwe.

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With the competition firmly into the business end, teams just have a few more pool games, before the knockouts get under way.

The final few pool games and all of the play-offs will be played on the Highveld, and having been born in Johannesburg and represented the Titans for almost a decade, Van Der Merwe is looking forward to playing there again.

“It has actually been quite a change for me playing on the coast. I have always been used to playing on the Highveld, so I am looking forward to playing up there again. We have a lot of experience in the team playing on the Highveld, so I don’t think the adjustment will be that big,” said Van Der Merwe.

“But it is always a little bit more challenging as a bowler playing on the Highveld and I am looking forward to it.”

‘Bulldog’

At 38-years-old Van Der Merwe, who is affectionately known as the Bulldog from his playing days at the Titans, is still at the top of his game, as seen by him helping the Netherlands knock the Proteas out of the T20 World Cup last year, and his performances in the SA20.

As long as his body holds up, he will continue to play at the highest level and will hopefully be back for next season’s SA20.

“When I was playing for the Titans, Chris van Noordwyk was the assistant coach at the time and he gave me the nickname because of the way I played and acted, and it just stuck from then,” explained Van Der Merwe about ‘Bulldog’.

“If I can perform like this into my 40s I would love to keep playing. When you are playing well you enjoy the game more and feel like you can play forever.

“But I am going to have to wait and see what the body does and there are always unexpected turns along the way. So as long as I am enjoying it and I can contribute towards my team winning games I would love to do it as long as I can.”

Sunrisers

Van Der Merwe will now hope to play a major role in the progress of his side over their final pool games and he believes that they have a good enough group to win the inaugural SA20.

“We have a very good group here. Apart from the cricket we gel really well together. We have a fantastic captain in (Aiden) Markram, talented guys like (Tristan) Stubbs and Marco (Jansen), so it’s been good.

“Everyone has been getting on and I think that is going to be key in going all the way. I would love to come back. I have thoroughly enjoyed it and it is always good to come back to South Africa as well.

“Thus far we have played some good cricket, so the enjoyment level is right up there and I would love to do it again.”