With a 40-ball 82*, Donovan Ferreira showed why he is a highly regarded T20 batter. This helped Joburg Super Kings win their SA20 opener against Durban Super Giants.
Ferreira formed crucial partnerships with Faf du Plessis (39 off 33) and Romario Shepherd (40 off 20) on Kingsmead’s spin-friendly surface to lift a wobbly Super Kings from 27/4 to 190/6, ultimately winning the race. Their 16-run victory margin also benefited from their death bowling.
With Quinton de Kock’s skillful use of slow bowlers inside the PowerPlay, the visitors, who chose to bat, were put on the back foot early in the game.
The Super Kings were four down after six overs when Prenelan Subrayan bowled out Lewis Gregory and Kyle Verreynne. Keshav Maharaj and Dwaine Pretorius then bowled out Reeza Hendricks and Janneman Malan, respectively.
Du Plessis hunkered down to lead the innings
Du Plessis, who was batting at No. 3, hunkered down to lead the innings. He played three quiet overs with Ferreira before the latter burst into life right after the timeout. Subrayan, who had taken those two wickets in the PowerPlay’s final over, was hit over his head twice, once for a four and once for a six.
Ferreira helped himself to two more boundaries in the next over bowled by Maharaj, effectively shifting the game’s momentum after that 16-run 10th over.
Despite losing du Plessis midway through that second-half assault, Ferreira continued to swing for the fence, and JSK prevailed. Durban’s death bowling was especially wasteful, letting in as many as 91 runs in the final six overs. Durban’s early bowling efforts were disrupted by Shepherd’s four maximums and Ferreira’s five sixes and eight fours.
Despite their subpar bowling performance in the second half of that innings, the Super Giants however demonstrated that they were not out of the fight. Before Mayers was bowled out by Phangiso, De Kock and Kyle Mayers sprinted off their lines at the restart and added 98 runs for the first wicket in 11 overs.
Durban fell into quicksand following Ferreira’s dismissal of de Kock for a 52-ball 78, which also provided the star turn with the ball. Wiaan Mulder’s promotion to No. 4 did not pay off, and Heinrich Klaasen, batting at No. 3, was unable to get going.
Super Giants’ innings spiraled out of control
The Super Giants’ innings spiraled out of control after Alzarri Joseph took two more wickets. From the final six overs, they only managed 48 runs, the final difference between the two teams on the day.
Brief ratings: Donovan Ferreira 82*, Romario Shepherd 40; Joburg Super Kings 190/6 Prenelan Subrayan defeated Durban Super Giants by a score of 174/5 (Quinton de Kock scored 78 and Kyle Mayers scored 39; by 16 runs (Alzarri Joseph, 2-30).