The Pretoria-based side are now back in the hunt for the playoffs after initially struggling in the competition.
The Pretoria Capitals have gone back to basics, according to fast bowler Gideon Peters, in order to position themselves well in the chase for spots in the SA20 playoffs.
The Capitals picked up only one win from their first five matches in the league stage of the competition (one fixture was rained out), but then they turned things around, earning three victories in succession.
In their latest match, they coasted to a 53-run win over MI Cape Town in Centurion on Monday night, climbing to the top of the table.
Back to basics
“To be honest we didn’t really have specific conversations. I think we just said ‘listen, let’s try do the basics a bit better’,” said Peters, who took 3/32 to lead the Capitals bowling attack on Monday.
“We’ve seen people in T20 cricket try to do so much, and then sometimes you can get bowled out quickly or you can get whacked, so we said let’s try do the basics a bit better, like hitting top of off (stump) and playing good cricket shots, and I think that’s worked for us.
“We’ve really stayed tight as a group. Even though we’ve had bad losses, we’ve never felt like the group was spreading apart, and I think that’s why we’ve done well in the last three games.”
With two matches left in the round-robin stage, Peters said the Pretoria side were not yet thinking ahead to the knockout stages.
Winning for the fans
They were focusing on their fixtures against Paarl Royals in Centurion on Thursday and Joburg Super Kings at the Wanderers on Saturday.
“We’ve got a young group in the camp, so we’re just taking it game by game, enjoying the tournament as it is,” he said.
“We’ll look forward to playing Paarl here (at SuperSport Park). We’ll try and get another win for our fans here. We’ve had sold out stadiums the whole time, so I think they deserve for us to play some good cricket as well.
“But we’re not going to look too far ahead. I think it’s game by game. We’re not thinking about anything else.”
Defending champions MI Cape Town, rooted to the bottom of the table, will face Sunrisers Eastern Cape in a must-win clash at Newlands on Friday and their last round-robin game will be played against the same opposition in Gqeberha on Sunday.
