High-flying JSK wary of wounded DSG

Joburg Super Kings match-winner Prenelan Subrayen is wary of a wounded Durban’s Super Giants outfit when the two sides face off in a bumper Betway SA20 New Year’s Day rematch at the Wanderers on Thursday.

Subrayen swept through the DSG top-order to claim career-best Betway SA20 figures of 3/16 in the clash at Kingsmead, which paved the way for JSK to leave Durban with a bonus point win.

The wily off-spinner admits JSK’s “confidence levels are quite high” after the six-wicket victory but does expect his former team to stand up off the canvas at the Bullring.

“They are a really good side and they have the ability to bounce back, as does any team in the SA20,” he said. “So, for us, it will be a new day and a new challenge.”

Subrayen’s new-ball spell was clinically efficient on a Kingsmead surface that offered the bowlers plenty of assistance. But he also paid tribute to JSK captain Faf du Plessis for his tactical astuteness and believes it will play a pivotal role moving forward.

“It still comes down to you still having to land the ball in the right area,” Subrayen said.

“So, I think with the guidance of, in terms of field placings, I think his (Du Plessis) mind is unbelievable. So, that definitely played a part in the way I bowled.”

Although disappointed with his team’s defeat, Durban’s Super Giants coach Lance Klusener was pleased that Subrayen finally had the chance to show off his talents after warming the bench at Kingsmead for the past three seasons.

“I thought Subs bowled well and I'm happy for him as well. It's nice to see him getting some game time as well,” Klusener said.

“He sat on the sidelines a lot for us. So, I think sometimes that's the good thing of having these big auctions after every three years. For me it would be really sad to have him sitting on the sidelines in our team. I'm delighted for him that he's getting an opportunity somewhere else.”

Upon reflection on his own team’s performance and where they can improve ahead of the Wanderers clash, Klusener was quite pragmatic.

“Fielding is pretty much of a controllable, I think we can be better in that department. It's something that we're giving quite a big priority in the group. So that's something we can definitely be better with. Had we taken a few catches the game might have been closer and who knows. So, we can take that away,” he said.

“We just need to guard against a surface like this that can take a little bit of confidence away from batters. We just need to guard against that. But not really too much we can take away from an 86 game.

“More than that I think we wouldn't really be too wise, hopefully we don't see a surface like that again. We'll be right back.”