Lutho Sipamla of Joburg Super Kings has been one of the better players for te team during this SA20 season. | Sportzpics
WITH the six-wicket defeat to the Paarl Royals in Boland Park on Monday, the Joburg Super Kings recorded their second defeat in the ongoing third season of the SA20.
They were handed their first by MI Cape Town at Newlands two days prior, as the highveld side struggled away from home.
Reflecting on their campaign thus far, particularly the last two games, Joburg Super Kings coach Stephen Fleming admitted his team is still in search of combinations following the injuries to big names including Gerald Coetzee, Lizaad Williams, Nandre Burger and Beuran Hendricks.
Fleming emphasised that they are an unsettled side looking for form and combinations away from home.
“We’re a little unsettled. We’ve had a number of injuries that have just disrupted our patterns. So, we are away from home looking for combinations rather than settling in and playing good cricket,” said Fleming.
“I don’t like the fact that we’re unsettled but it’s the nature of where the squad’s at right now.
“The last two games have been underwhelming in terms of the quality of our play and we’ve found ourselves in situations where we were either a few runs short or just not having a good enough sequence with the ball to put pressure on.
“We’re a little bit off from the top down. From the management down, we’ve got to just settle and start putting more rhythm into our cricket which is not there at the moment.
“We’re trying to be a rounded side. We just lost a bit of the engine room at the start of the season so these games here we’re having to adjust. We’ve got the talent, we just got to get the combinations right.”
The Joburg Super Kings recently welcomed spinner Maheesh Theekshana, who has been on national duty in New Zealand while the Super Kings went through half of the group stage fixtures.
The 24-year-old will likely be in the playing XI for the next game against the defending champions Sunrisers Eastern Cape in Gqeberha, in conditions where spin tends to have an upper hand.
While the Super Kings have lost some of their stars, there are players within the side who have the potential to fill the void.
Fast bowlers Lutho Sipamla and Hardus Viljoen, and spin-bowling all-rounder Donovan Ferreira have looked good with the ball and have thus received backing from Fleming and captain Faf du Plessis.
“I back these guys. Even though we’ve got injuries there is enough talent to be competing better than what we are,” said Fleming.
“Ferreira is a special case. He is a guy that you’re trying to harness their potential into a consistent performer. I’ve seen gains from year on year and the way he’s started this tournament would suggest that he’s making good progress.
“He’s been in and close to the national side which is good. He’s getting opportunities around the world to play and learn. In Don’s case, he’s making progress which is really pleasing.”
The Super Kings will play their sixth fixture on Friday at St George’s Park and will be looking to bounce back from the two consecutive losses they have suffered in the Western Cape over the past five days.
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