Thursday sees us reach Match 17 of the 2026 SA20 competition. Match 17 has the Paarl Royals traveling to Johannesburg to face the Joburg Super Kings.
Here is a look ahead at the contest.
Joburg Super Kings VS Paarl Royals Venue: Wanderers, Johannesburg
Joburg Super Kings VS Paarl Royals Date: Thursday, January 8
Joburg Super Kings VS Paarl Royals Odds:
History
These are two teams expected to be in the thick of it at the end of the season.
The Joburg Super Kings sit second on the log, with 15 points from three wins, one loss, and one no result so far this season. They also have one bonus point and are one of only two teams with a positive Net Run Rate so far this campaign.
The Paarl Royals are in an excellent spot. They are third on the log, two points behind the Super Kings on 13 points. They have, however, only played four matches, with three wins and one loss, along with a single bonus point. This makes the Royals the only team in the comp that has completed all their games to date.
A win on Thursday would take the Super Kings top. A bonus point win on Thursday would take the Royals top. Either way, there will be some movement at the sharp end of the log aftet tomorrows contest.
Joburg Super Kings
This is a right-hand heavy batting lineup, so expect their issues to come against the left-handed spinners. Their two best batters against spinners in the last couple of years have been Faf du Plessis and James Vince. Expect one of those two to dig in and hold his wicket while the other batters go on the attack.
An option for that attack threat will be Donovan Ferreira. He averages just under 28 per innings against spin, while his strike rate of 162 against that form of bowling is impressive.
Paarl Royals
The Royals are a difficult matchup because they rely on spin more than any other team in the comp. Expect some combination of Sikandar Raza, Bjorn Fortuin, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, and Asa Tribe to lead the attack with their tricky brand of bowling.
While their pace attack has taken 20 of the 30 wickets claimed to date, their spin attack really limits the run rate of their opponents.
Best Bets
It is worth considering the conditions over the last few years at The Wanderers Stadium as they will have an impact on this T20 match. Expect assistance with the new ball that deviates to spin later on in the innings. In one game completed this season, spinners were key.
Batting second matters. That has come in to bat second has won 47.6% of the time, while the opening team wins just 38.1% of the time.
Sikandar Raza (29/4) and Bjorn Fortuin (21/2) seem to have the bowling techniques in place to challenge this lineup. Raza has claimed seven wickets in his last two games, so he is more than worth a punt as the best bowler.
I like the Royals to win this on the road at 23/20.
