Paarl Royals v Durban Super Giants – Preview

It is the top-of-the-table clash when the Durban Super Kings made a trip to Boland Park Stadium to face Paarl Royals on Friday 26 January. Both teams have been outstanding this season showing great competition throughout. Royals are coming from defeating Joburg Super Kings and Super Giant also recorded a fantastic victory over MI Cape Town at Newlands Stadium mid-week.

Paarl Royals have been a team to beat in the current campaign. Top of the league standings with 22 points having won 5 out of six matches so far. Now, preparing to meet another team in good shape, Durban Super Giants will bring the class game to show what they made off. Royals’ success has much contributed to good bowling performance. On some occasions, they manage to restrict teams to small and chasable totals. Or turning the heart to protect the score they posted. In the last match against Super Kings away from home, they chased down 168 with six balls to spare.

Super Kings batsman Reeza Hendricks, who has been struggling to convert with the bat, notched 79 runs for his side on the side. Andile Phehlukwayo, Lungi Ngidi, and Fabian Allen shared one wicket apiece as in most cases fielding let them down big time. Coming to the chase, Super Kings were into the game having taken one wicket and conceded 40 runs in the first 6 overs. But Dane Vilas and Wihan Lubbe had 95 runs stand to steal a game. From there, the writing was on the wall that it would take a huge task to stop them from ending on winning terms. Playing at home, Royals has won two matches out of three so far this season. All those occasions by big margins. So, to come close to securing a victory, the team must able to utilise the pitch conditions wisely.

Meanwhile, Super Giants will head to a clash motivated after coming top against MI at Newlands on Tuesday. After posting 157 having asked to bat first, the Super Giants pulled an incredible performance to successfully defend the scoreline and in the process record a big 36-run victory. In that match spin bowlers had the final say. Noor Ahmad and Naveen Ul-Hap were in a special mood taking three and two wickets respectively. Even the skipper Keshav Maharaj had a piece of the cake taking one scalp on his name too. It was not the first time this season, the coastal side has managed to defend what looks like a small total. Even in a game against the Super Kings, they posted 145 and reigned supreme in the end.

However, that victory on Wednesday brought a sigh of relief to the Durban-based side as they were coming from two losses in a row. The concern in the side is the form of their star bowler Quinton De Kock. The 31-year-old has contributed with 62 runs in six innings this season. As the tournament reaches the final stages, all players must come to make a team to succeed. But he is not near to doing that. In the last match, he was dropped to bat at number 3 and still failed to excel. But time will tell when he is going to accelerate.

What To Expect

In the past 6 games, this ground had seen a team batting second winning four times. It is also a pitch that doesn’t have a big total. A score above 180 is too much to chase.

Prediction

Best Bet: Durban Super Giants to win at 1.95