Super Kings crushed as Peters blitz keeps Capitals playoff hopes alive
Days after dishing out a punishing display with the ball against the two-time defending champions, the Joburg Super Kings, copped a pounding from their provincial neighbours the Pretoria Capitals, which kept the race for a playoff spot going in the Betway SA20.
Fast bowlers Lutho Sipamla and Hardus Viljoen did the damage on Sunday against the Sunrisers and on Tuesday night in Centurion the Pretoria Capitals unleashed their own set of flame-throwers, to rip apart the Super Kings’ batting line up.
Gideon Peters, 25, played his first match of the tournament and immediately raised the question as to why that was the case. Delivering the ball at speeds in excess of 140km/h he blasted the game open with two crucial strikes in the ninth over.
Devon Conway ☝️ Moeen Ali ☝️ It's a dream debut for Gideon Peters 💪 #BetwaySA20 #PCvJSK #WelcomeToIncredible pic.twitter.com/blX1jLhd1S
— Betway SA20 (@SA20_League) January 28, 2025
Peters was one of five changes made to the Capitals starting line-up, which provided a much needed injection of enthusiasm as well as a more balanced starting XI, something they have struggled with throughout the competition.
One of the changes was to the captaincy with Kyle Verreynne taking over from Rilee Rossouw, who missed Tuesday’s match because his wife have birth the couple’s second child in the morning. Rossouw has struggled to make an impression in the tournament and if it was to do with the impending birth then that is understandable.
Verreynne was virtually faultless as leader, helped immensely by how superbly his bowlers performed, along with some injudicious decision-making by JSK’s batters. One of those was the captain Faf du Plessis, who had struck a pair of boundaries, then tried to lap-scoop Australian Tom Rogers, but put the ball straight into the hands of short fine leg.
Before that, there was another injury — in a tournament that is becoming increasingly dangerous for players heading to next month’s Champions Trophy — when New Zealander Devon Conway was struck on the hand by a powerful drive from Du Plessis. Conway left the game, returning in the eighth over where became the first Peters' two victims.
Bullseye! 🎯 Keagan Lion-Cachet throws an absolute bullet from the boundary #BetwaySA20 #PCvJSK #WelcomeToIncredible pic.twitter.com/1juMUdfIgc
— Betway SA20 (@SA20_League) January 28, 2025
Conway didn’t field later and is likely to go for an assessment on Wednesday morning. Already the tournament has seen Anrich Nortjé (Capitals), Gerald Coetzee (JSK), David Miller (Royals) and Marcus Stoinis (Super Giants) all laid low by a variety of ailments that in the case of Nortje, will see him miss the Champions Trophy and for the rest, which for now includes Conway, fretting over their readiness.
Peters definitely showed he was ready to take his opportunity; after the rapid bouncer that accounted for Conway, three balls after he’d resumed his innings, he then speared a 145km/h yorker past Moeen Ali’s defences, leaving the Super Kings precariously placed at 45/5.
They never recovered, stumbling their way to 99/9, with Jonny Bairstrow’s 30, the top score.
There's nowhere to hide 🤣🤣
— SuperSport 🏆 (@SuperSportTV) January 28, 2025
Watch as a chance for the #BetwayCatch2Million goes begging 👇👇
📺 Stream #BetwaySA20 on DStv: https://t.co/rM90YyQxaw pic.twitter.com/Js9vJhFsMS
Peters took 2/15, figures matched by left-arm spinner Senuran Muthusamy, while Migael Pretorius was the most successful, taking 3/22.
As they did in what had been the only win before Tuesday’s, the Capitals earned an important bonus point, which leaves them one point behind JSK, with both teams still to play two matches.
Joburg followed up their flimsy batting effort with a ragged performance in the field, which included lots of balls missed on the ground while two catches were also dropped. One of those was by Sipamla, who grassed Marques Ackerman when the left hander had nought.
Ackerman hit some sweetly timed shots in his innings of 39 which came off just 22 balls as the Capitals won by six wickets with eight overs to spare.