Ross Roche

By Ross Roche

Senior sports writer


Paarl Royals v Pretoria Capitals: All you need to know

The Capitals will be targeting going all the way this time round, while the Royals will also want to make their own play for the title.


The Paarl Royals and Pretoria Capitals open their respective SA20 campaigns in what should be a blockbuster clash at Boland Park on Friday night.

Both teams made the semifinals in last year’s inaugural edition, with the Capitals, who finished top of the log, deservedly making it to the final after beating the Royals in their semi clash, before they slipped up at the final hurdle.

The Capitals will thus be targeting going all the way this time round, while the Royals will also have a point to prove and will want to make their own play for the title.

Here are all the details about the match in Paarl

Where and what time: Boland Park, first ball 5:30pm

Who’s playing: Paarl Royals from Paarl against Pretoria Capitals from Pretoria

How to watch: Supersport, channel 212

Squads:

PR: Ferisco Adams, Fabian Allen, Jos Buttler, Bjorn Fortuin, Evan Jones, Wihann Lubbe, Keith Dudgeon, Obed McCoy, David Miller, Lungi Ngidi, Andile Phehlukwayo, Nqaba Peter, Jason Roy, Tabraiz Shamsi, Lorcan Tucker, John Turner, Mitchell van Buuren, Dane Vilas, Codi Yusuf

PC: Matthew Boast, Corbin Bosch, Eathan Bosch, Shane Dadswell, Theunis de Bruyn, Daryn Dupavillon, Colin Ingram, Will Jacks, Senuran Muthusamy, Jimmy Neesham, Hardus Viljoen, Wayne Parnell, Migael Pretorius, Adil Rashid, Rilee Rossouw, Phil Salt, Paul Stirling, Tiaan van Vuuren, Kyle Verreynne

Players to watch:

For the hosts England white ball captain Jos Buttler will want to play a major role again after he was the top run scorer in the inaugural edition of the SA20, while captain and in-form Proteas slugger David Miller will also be looking to star for his team.

Other local stars such as Lungi Ngidi, Tabraiz Shamsi and Andile Phehlukwayo will also be eager to show off their talent, while international stars like West Indian Obed McCoy and England’s Jason Roy will want to prove their worth.

The Capitals suffered a blow when pace express Anrich Nortje was ruled out of the SA20 through injury. Captain Wayne Parnell will thus have a lot of that responsibility pushed onto him. In-form Migael Pretorius and Eathan Bosch, who was named SA20 rising star last year will also have big roles to play.

Proteas T20 star Rilee Rossouw will want to bring his vast experience to the party along with New Zealand all-rounder Jimmy Neesham. A host of big hitting internationals including Will Jacks, Phil Salt and Paul Stirling will also be keen to impress.

Last season:

In their first match at Boland Park the Capitals scored 158/6 batting first with Theunis de Bruyn hitting 53 and Ferisco Adams picking up 2/38. The Royals produced an inch perfect chase to get over the line for a six wicket win with two balls to spare, Jos Buttler was top scorer with 37 off 28 balls.

In the return match at Centurion the Capitals again batted first, managing a mammoth 226/5 thanks largely to 80 off 41 balls from Kusal Mendis, while Lungi Ngidi picked up 2/39. Buttler cracked 70 off 45 in reply, but Jimmy Neesham’s 3/28 helped the home side limit them to 167/9 for a 59 run win.

In the semifinal the Capitals batted first for a third time, scoring 153/8 thanks to Rilee Rossouw’s 56 off 41 balls, while Andile Phehlukwayo picked up 3/29. A superb all-round bowling effort, led by Adil Rashid’s 2/15, secured the win for the Pretoria side as the Royals fell well short on124 all out despite David Miller’s 31.

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David Miller Paarl Royals Pretoria Capitals SA20

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