It wasn’t the best of starts for team Pretoria Capitals in the latest season of SA20, as they lost their opening match against Joburg Super Kings on Saturday. That loss also meant, that head coach Sourav Ganguly’s coaching debut also did not go as planned with the Pretoria team, as they fell short by 22 runs, while chasing 169.
Pretoria Capitals Lose to Joburg in Opening Match
The Centurion wicket looked to offer something to the bowlers, with both teams struggling to get big scores. First up, Joburg went on to score 168/6, with none of the batters getting to even a fifty. Skipper Faf du Plessis was poor for his 2 from 8, and the team was only 16/2 in 3.2 overs.
Thereafter, Rilee Rossouw (48) and Wiaan Mulder (43) did combine well to add 78 together, but it was Pretoria bowlers who showed good control overall. Only a late burst of Akeal Hossain — 22 from 10 gave some respectability to the eventual score. Tymal Mills was excellent as he returned with figures of 2/17 in 4 overs, and then Codi Yusuf also did his job with two wickets.
Sourav Ganguly Fails in Coaching Debut
The script was reversed, as Pretoria was rocked by Duan Jansen’s 4-wicket haul. Despite an excellent start of 71/1, they could not keep up the pressure on the opposition, and the Keshav Maharaj-led side succumbed. Will Smeed scored 34 from 30, while Bryce Parsons scored 41 from 30.
Meanwhile, this is the first time that Ganguly has become the head coach of any side. Prior to this, he had been in mentorship role with Delhi Capitals and Dubai Capitals.
