Pretoria Capitals captain Wayne Parnell was delighted with his team’s bowling effort after they won against Joburg Super Kings by six wickets at the SuperSport Park, Centurion on Wednesday. Joburg Super Kings got off to a fine start as their skipper Faf du Plessis provided a rollicking start.
JSK raced to 70-2 after the PowerPlay overs with du Plessis scoring a blistering 22-ball 51. However, Pretoria Capitals bounced back in style as JSK was skittled out for a paltry 122.
JSK’s middle order collapsed like a pack of cards as Anrich Nortje and James Neesham scalped three wickets each. Furthermore, Adil Rashid took two wickets for the Capitals to put his team in command.
Meanwhile, Pretoria Capitals went on to chase down the score in 13 overs after Phil Salt scored a fine half-century and Will Jacks smashed a quickfire 16-ball 34. Thus, the Capitals were also able to earn a bonus point after a comprehensive win as they chased down the score in 13 overs.
Wayne Parnell said in the post-match presentation, “That’s the nature of cricket, Faf was very aggressive, I didn’t execute my plans but that’s the way the game goes. After that powerplay where they made 70, to bowl them out for 120 was outstanding. Gaining the bonus point could be very beneficial as teams have won games at their home grounds. Having a guy like that in our unit is great (on Anrich Nortje), he’s hungry for performances and I’m happy to have him in the team. The way Salty managed the game, he wanted to be at the end which was good to see. The brand we play, we do tend to lose wickets, but if they do get in, they can go big and score quickly as well. To see such a big crowd on a Wednesday night is nice to see, hopefully, they’ll keep supporting us.”
On the other hand, James Neesham was awarded the Player of the Match for returning with impressive figures of 3-7 in the three overs he bowled.
Neesham said after the game, “That was more luck than skill (on Faf’s dismissal), the wicket changed the momentum in favour of us and we went ahead. Things like that happen, we have an incredible new-ball attack and it’s a privilege to be bowling behind them. I saw the edge of the bat and stuck my hands on it (on the catch). We were disappointed in ourselves last night, probably playing far too aggressively, but coming back after just a 12-hour turnaround was an advantage for us. Like I said, a lot of things fell into place for us today.”
Pretoria Capitals will next take on Durban Super Giants on Friday.
