On Thursday, two of the most closely placed teams in the SA20 point table will lock horns to stabilise their position in the tournament. Paarl Royals vs Sunrisers Eastern Cape will take place on 19th January at Bolan Park.
This is the first meeting of both teams and their position in the point table makes this fixture more interesting.
PR are currently in fourth position with a net run rate of +.250 and only one win. They will be looking forward to scoring another win and improving their position in the point table.
The SEC are not having a good tournament. They have just one win and a net run rate of -.862, Sunrisers are currently in the fifth position in the point table. There is only one point difference between SEC and PR.
Jos Buttler can be the top scorer in the game. Both teams are in a must-win situation. However, our experts believe that Paarl Royals have an upper hand because of their batting lineup.
The betting tip is...
Royals Will Win
Paarl Royals started their tournament with a loss against MI Cape Town in the first game of the SA20 cricket league. They won their second fixture which was against Joburg Super Kings but unfortunately, since then, the franchise has been failing consecutively. The primary concern for the team management is their middle order which is failing even after the opening lineup is giving a stable start. The bowlers are also struggling to get breakthroughs with time.
David Miller will be going with the balanced and strongest XI. So here is our predicted XI for PR:
Predicted Lineup: David Miller (Captain), Jos Buttler, Lungi Ngidi, Tabraiz Shamsi, Jason Roy, Dane Vilas, Bjorn Fortuin, Wihan Lubbe, Frisco Adams, Evan Jones, Eoin Morgan.
SEC is currently at the fifth position of the point table. The upcoming fixture against Paarl Royals is a must-win fixture if they want to qualify for the playoffs. The team looks unstable, inconsistent, and unpredictable. JJ Smuts is doing a great job as the opening batter but he is not getting support from the other end. Sisanda Magala,Othniell Baartman, and skipper Aiden Markram handled the bowling attack of the team positively.
Aiden Markram needs a win in this match and he will be going with a reliable XI that could make difference.
Predicted Lineup: Sarel Erwee, Adam Rossington (wk), JJ Smuts, Jordan Cox, Aiden Markram (c), Tristan Stubbs, Roelof van der Merwe, Marco Jansen, James Fuller, Sisanda Magala, Ottniel Baartman
Both the teams have evenly matched and their performance has been equally disappointing. However, with the batting lineup, we predict a win for the Royals.