Africa-Press – South-Africa. Joburg Super Kings coach Stephen Fleming said his team is being hamstrung by an inability to deal with pressure in the SA20.
The Super Kings slipped to a third disappointing loss on Wednesday when they were crushed by six wickets by Highveld rivals, the Pretoria Capitals on Wednesday evening.
It’s the manner of the defeat that’s concerning for the Super Kings as they were rolled for 122 in 15.4 overs, while in the other defeats against the Paarl Royals and the Mumbai Indians Cape Town, they made 82 and 105 batting first.
What stood out about the Super Kings’ defeat at SuperSport Park was the fast start that was frittered away.
They were 70/2 at the end of the six-over powerplay, with captain Faf du Plessis powering to a 22-ball 51.
There was nothing on either side of that innings as a customary batting meltdown ensured the Super Kings were on the receiving end of a heavy defeat.
Fleming said the fact that they’ve been bowled out three times in five games represents a significant problem.
“You’ve got a team that’s batted first every time, and in the early stages of a tournament, that can be a little bit tricky,” Fleming said.
“We got undone at the coast a couple of times, so there’s a confidence issue, a technical one, and a mental one.
“It’s the balance of still being aggressive and positive, weighing up the match situation and that’s not been ok.
“We’ve had some good pockets, but we’ve been bowled out three times in five games, which represents a poor showing.
“We’re five games in and we’ve won two in a pretty close competition, so it can’t be all doom and gloom.
“We’re going to need a couple of individual performances to act as a circuit breaker because the ability to absorb pressure is something that we’ve worked on
“We haven’t been able to find our way out of trouble, we’re not able to absorb pressure and be able to counterpunch later on.”
The Super Kings’ top three have scored runs sporadically, but not in a collective that allows teams to contest for trophies.
In the six-run win against the Capitals, the Super Kings were set up by Leus Du Plooy (75*), Reeza Hendricks (45) and Faf du Plessis (27).
It’s this trend that Fleming wants his charges to invest in for the next five games of the tournament.
“Your top three will win you tournaments,” Fleming said.
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“They get the majority of the runs, but the top four could probably squeeze in there as well.
“You’ll have players coming in at the right time and what we have now are players who have to fulfil a different role because the timing is too early.
“When you select a batting order, you look at ideal times and we’ve got the ideal power, but not when coming in early.
“There’s a responsibility to get batters in at the right time.”
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