Thursday’s match marks Match 32 of the 2026 SA20 competition. Match 32 is the eliminator, with the winner of Paarl Royals vs. Joburg Super Kings advancing to the second qualifier on Friday, January 23.
This playoff format means the loser of this game is all over. The third (Royals) and fourth (Super Kings) seeds in the playoffs have to win three games in a row to overcome their seeding and win the 2026 SA20 comp.
Here is a look ahead at the contest.
Paarl Royals VS Joburg Super Kings Venue: Centurion Park, Centurion
Paarl Royals VS Joburg Super Kings Date: Thursday, January 22
Paarl Royals VS Joburg Super Kings Odds:
History
You don’t have to go back far to find the last time that the Royals and Super Kings played each other. The final game of the regular season, Match 30 this past Monday, saw the Super Kings travel to Boland Park to face their Eliminator opponents.
That game was already an elimination situation for the Super Kings. If Paarl had won, then Joburg would have finished in fifth on the log, and their place in this match would have been taken by Durban’s Super Giants.
It wasn’t as if the Royals had nothing to play for either. Holding serve at Boland Park would have vaulted Paarl from third to second (at least) on the log. That would have put them in the Qualifier 1 match instead of the Eliminator, something they will surely rue if they are unsuccessful on Thursday.
In that match, the Super Kings won the toss and elected to bat. Four of the top five in the order batted well, though captain James Vince fell to a second-ball duck off the bowling of Bjorn Fortuin. It was the knock of 54 not out from Leus du Plooy which really pushed the Super Kings to a defendable total of 166/5.
Dan Lawrence struck 45 in the Paarl reply, but he did so as wickets fell around him. When Rubin Hermann fell to make it 81/3 after 11.3 overs, the Royals were in trouble. The tail added little to the score, something that will have to change if they are to survive elimination.
Paarl Royals
The Royals will be down an important player as captain David Miller injured himself while fielding on Monday. He has picked up a groin issue, which looks set to rule him out of this game, with his participation in the T20 World Cup next month also a concern.
Joburg Super Kings
The Super Kings also have an injury issue with a Proteas star. All-rounder Donovan Ferreira also picked up an injury late in the season, a fractured shoulder sustained while fielding on the cover boundary against the Pretoria Capitals.
Best Bets
This might be a case of whichever team deals best with their injury blow will move on to Qualifier 2 on Friday.
The Royals boast the leading wicket-taker in the comp. Ottniel Baartman is 24/5 to be the best bowler on show in this match, and he has 17 wickets in seven matches at a strike rate of 8.71.
James Vice is 39/10 to be the best batsman, and he has 216 runs in six matches this season. He will be looking to atone for his duck last time out, and he is worth backing in a field that doesn’t contain that many huge (on form) bats.
