The winning team in the qualifier play-off between the Paarl Royals and Sunrisers Eastern Cape will face the Pretoria Capitals in the SA20 final on Sunday.
With only one day to recover and prepare, top-order batter Lhuan-dré Pretorius admitted the Paarl Royals needed to reset quickly as they geared up for the SA20 qualifier play-off against Sunrisers Eastern Cape at the Wanderers on Friday (5.30pm start).
The Royals kept their SA20 trophy hopes alive on Thursday night, coasting to a 36-run victory over the Joburg Super Kings in their eliminator clash in Centurion.
While the Paarl side progressed to Friday’s qualifier play-off, the Super Kings were knocked out of the competition.
“It’s a quick turnaround because we’re playing again tomorrow in Joburg, hopefully in similar conditions,” said 19-year-old Pretorius, who received the Player-of-the-Match award after top-scoring for the Royals with 51 runs against the Super Kings.
“So we’ll just get a good night’s rest, prepare mentally and then hopefully we’ll be ready to go.”
Pretorius felt the performance against the Super Kings was “close to perfect” and he hoped the Royals could replicate it against two-time former champions the Sunrisers as they looked to qualify for the SA20 final for the first time.
“I think they (the Sunrisers) are a well balanced side with a lot of very good international players… but I think it’s the team that wants to win on the day,” he said.
“It’s bat versus ball. If you play the names you might have a bit of trouble because there’s a lot of big names in that team, but if we can get in another performance like tonight I’m sure we can get away with a win.”
Super Kings hit by injuries
Joburg Super Kings coach Stephen Fleming admitted they were disappointed after being eliminated.
He was proud of his squad, however, after they reached the play-offs despite losing some key players during the campaign, including regular captain Faf du Plessis and stand-in skipper Donovan Ferreira, who both picked up injuries.
“We are down on a number of players through injury, and it’s unfortunate that they were experienced senior players. That can make a difference,” Fleming said.
“We’ve got some young players who were playing at a level that they’ve never been before, and we were asking a lot of them to keep rising to the challenge.
“So we’re a little bit disappointed about that, but that’s the tournament. We couldn’t patch up enough to get across the line again.”
The winning team in Friday’s qualifier play-off between the Royals and the Sunrisers will face the Pretoria Capitals in the SA20 final in Cape Town on Sunday.
