Cape Town — If Donovan Ferreira thought there was hype around him leading into the Betway SA20 due to his hefty price tag, the Joburg Super Kings’ finisher now has a definite target on his back.
Ferreira is the talk of the town after he lit up Kingsmead in the Super Kings’ opening victory over Durban’s Super Giants. The 24-year-old transformed the state of the game with a blistering 82 off 40 balls after the Super Kings had been reduced to 27/4.
It was an innings that not only showcased his destructive clean striking, but also the ability to maintain his aggressive style under severe pressure.
“It was pretty much the ideal start for the team and for me. I just wanted to stay in the moment and luckily it came off,” Ferreira said.
“Faf just said to me that we should get into good positions, run hard, and later if I am still in the easier it will get. I have been working hard on that and trying to build an innings because I’ve batted a lot at the end.”
Ferreira would certainly like to continue this form when the Super Kings meet MI Cape Town at Newlands on Saturday.
It will certainly be a greater task though, especially with the home team boasting some of the most fearsome fast bowling talent in the world.
England superstar Jofra Archer showed no signs of any rustiness after a lengthy injury lay off and bristled in during the tournament opener against the Paarl Royals.
Kagiso Rabada is also back in the match-day squad after recovering from jet lag after the long flight from Australia, while Englishmen Sam Curran and Olly Stone complete the MI pace attack.
Stone was particularly impressive in the victory over the Royals when he uprooted the middle stump on two occasions.
And although MI Cape Town have to overcome Durban’s Super Giants initially on Friday evening, Stone already has Ferreira in his sights for the Saturday fixture. Both matches start at 5:30pm.
“He played really well. We will have some meetings before the game and discuss a few different plans to try and get him out,” Stone said.
“Hopefully he doesn’t come off again when he arrives here. We discussed how we might go about (in our strategy against) different players. We've seen how dangerous certain players in those teams can be.
So, in the build-up tomorrow and the day after, we are going to create a few plans that might work. Obviously, you can't be dependent on one plan, so we have a few strategies about how to go about different players and different situations. We’re always chatting as a group and trying different ways of getting people out. There are obviously a few local players that have a few nuggets of information that can help us contain him.”
MI Cape Town, of course, have a host of destructive batters of their own with Dewald Brevis and Ryan Rickleton showing good form in the opener.
Stone is hoping they can continue in this vein as the home team hope to transform Newlands into a fortress with a double-header set for this weekend.
“You go out there to win every game. Obviously, having the first three games here at Newlands is massive. Hopefully, we can make this a fortress and learn from the other night and get two more wins on the board. And if another bonus point comes our way, we'll look to take it,” he said.
IOL Sport