Veterans set SA20 alight as the international break kicks in

Veteran players were the talk of the SA20 over the past week as former Proteas Faf du Plessis and Roelof van der Merwe starred for their respective teams, the Joburg Super Kings and Sunrisers Eastern Cape.

On Tuesday night Du Plessis hammered his way to the first century of the new competition, helping his side chase down a stiff 179 to win set by Durban’s Super Giants, in just the second game at a packed Wanderers Stadium.

Batting first the Super Giants made a decent total of 178 for six thanks to the in-form Heinrich Klaasen (65 off 48 balls), with cameos from Jason Holder (28no) and Kyle Mayers (28) at the end and start of the innings and support from Matthew Breetzke (28) in the middle.

The Super Kings managed to shake off the disappointment of losing star spinner Aaron Phangiso, who has been in top form this tournament and was suspended this week due to an illegal bowling action, as Gerald Coetzee, 3-21, and Maheesh Theekshana, 3-30, starred with the ball.

The chase was then set up by a monster 157-run opening partnership between Du Plessis, 113no off 58 balls (8x4; 8x6), and the out-of-sorts Reeza Hendricks (45 off 46 balls), as the Super Kings strolled home with five balls to spare.

On Sunday the 38-year-old Van Der Merwe (affectionately known as the Bulldog) rolled back the years to clinch the first five-wicket haul of the competition and eventually finish with amazing figures of 6-20 as he helped the Sunrisers to a huge bonus-point, 124-run over the Super Giants at St George’s Park.

Batting first the Sunrisers needed just four batters to rack up a big 210 for two in their 20 overs with Englishman Adam Rossington starring with 72 off 30 balls (10x4; 4x6) at the top of the order, while Jordan Hermann (59 off 44), Aiden Markram (44no off 34), and Tristan Stubbs (27no off 13) backed him up.

The second innings was then all about Van Der Merwe as he picked up his best-ever T20 figures, having played an incredible 292 games in his career so far, as the Super Giants were skittled all out for 86, with only Wiaan Mulder (29 off 15) showing any form of defiance.

Another star performance that came out of the Sunrisers, but this time from a youngster, saw 22-year-old Marco Jansen slam an incredible 66 off 27 balls (3x4; 7x6) to help drag his side to a come-from-behind, two-wicket win over Mumbai Indians Cape Town at Newlands last Wednesday.

MI Cape Town managed a defendable 171 for six batting first, thanks largely to Grant Roelofsen (56 off 36) and Ryan Rickleton (46 off 36) setting up a good platform at the top of the order.

The Sunrisers were then effectively dead and buried on 101 for six after 14.1 overs, needing 72 to win off 35 balls with just their bowling allrounders and tail left, only for Jansen to produce ‘one of the greatest T20 innings you will ever see’ according to commentator Kevin Pietersen.

With the tournament over two thirds of the way through and now having a week break for the Proteas v England ODI series to take place, the playoffs are still fully up for grabs.

At the top of the log, the Pretoria Capitals have all but sealed a semifinal spot thanks to racking up 23 points from five wins against two losses in their seven games and it would take an incredible collapse for them not to reach the playoffs.

At the bottom of the log, the Super Giants are almost out of the running on eight points having won just twice in seven games, and they need to win their last three games and have other results go their way to stand any chance.

Between those two teams it is incredibly tight, with the Sunrisers and Paarl Royals in second and third respectively on 17 points after eight games (both with four wins and four losses), the Super Kings fourth on 16 points from seven games, and MI Cape Town fifth on 13 points from seven.

The top five batters in the competition so far are Jos Buttler with 285 runs and a top score of 68, Du Plessis with 277 runs, Will Jacks with 270 runs and a top score of 92, Klaasen with 259 runs, and Markram with 200 runs and a top score of 50.

The top five bowlers are Van Der Merwe with 14 wickets, Anrich Nortje with 13 and best of 3-12, Bjorn Fortuin with 13 and best of 3-14, Evan Jones with 12 and best of 4-32, and Coetzee with 11 and best of 4-24.