England legend Joe Root is hoping to bid farewell to the Paarl Royals on a high note at the Wanderers on Thursday.
Root has been a revelation in his maiden Betway SA20 season for the Royals, striking 279 runs at an average of 55.80, contributing five wickets at the miserly economy of 7.0, and playing a crucial mentoring role to his teenage opening partner Lhuan-dre Pretorius, who tops the overall run-scorers charts.
The 34-year-old, who is regarded as one of the finest batters of his generation, is set to return to international duty after tonight’s clash against the Joburg Super Kings.
“I've thoroughly enjoyed every minute of being here,” Root said. “Both on and off the field. We've got a great group of lads who have welcomed me and brilliantly made me feel a massive part of everything we've done both on and off the field.
“But of course I'll miss the latter stages of the tournament, although I'll be keeping an eye on how the guys do.
“I think one of the great things about this is you can make friends for life and you can meet people that you'd never come across before and all of a sudden, you've got friends that will last a lifetime.” Root, of course, has helped propel the Royals to a record-breaking five-game home winning streak that has the Boland Park-based team sit pretty at the top of the Betway SA20 table with passage secured for Qualifier 1 against Western Cape neighbours MI Cape Town at St George’s Park in Gqeberha on February 4.
The winner of this match has a direct pathway to the much-anticipated final at the Wanderers on February 8.
The Joburg Super Kings, meanwhile, are on 15 points and find themselves locked in a three-way mid-table battle with Sunrisers Eastern Cape (19 points) and Pretoria Capitals (14 points) for the two remaining playoff berths.
The Super Kings will be hoping to bounce back from a crushing Jukskei derby defeat to the Capitals and possibly spoil Root’s farewell to keep themselves in contention.
“We go home now for two games. Our record at home has been very good. So we get some comfort from that,” said Super Kings coach Stephen Fleming.
“A lot of it is mental at this point. Changes can help, but often continuity and backing people can work as well. But we've got to play better. It's as simple as that.
“But we're in the race just to try and qualify now. Three teams, in particular, that are really going to hunt hard. So yeah, all I'm worried about is an improvement in performance in the next game. And if we're good enough, we'll get through.”
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