Super Kings hope to make Wanderers an intimidating home base

Creating an intimidating atmosphere at home remains a goal for all the teams in the SA20, with season two reaching Gauteng for the first time this weekend. 

The Joburg Super Kings host MI Cape Town at the Wanderers on Saturday afternoon, and on Sunday it is the turn of the Pretoria Capitals — sporting nine sponsors — who will play the Paarl Royals in Centurion. 

The Super Kings hope they can finally start their tournament having sat drinking tea in the St George’s Park changeroom while Wednesday’s tournament opener against the Sunrisers Eastern Cape was rained out. 

The Super Kings pre-competition planning included the desire to turn the Wanderers into an uncomfortable environment for visiting teams, building on the success they had at the venue in the inaugural tournament.

“We reiterated how good we were at home and just to hold that standard — so that every time we play at the Wanderers we create the atmosphere, that this is our fortress, and that any time that teams come here, they must feel that atmosphere and pressure,” said Sibonelo Makhanya.

Faf du Plessis’ men were unbeaten at the ‘Bullring’ last year winning four of their five matches, with one match against Paarl abandoned because of rain.

It was that strong form at home that formed the basis of their charge to the semifinals, where the eventually lost to the Sunrisers.

Though they won two matches away from home, their form on the road was generally shaky. 

This season, very much in keeping with the broader theme of the franchise group, which is topped by the highly successful team based in Chennai, the Super Kings are seeking to go a few steps further than last year. 

Moeen Ali, Imraan Tahir, Wayne Madsen and David Wiese add to a grizzled veteran core that includes skipper Faf du Plessis and Aaron Phangiso.

“If you look at the squad, they are all experienced,” chirped the 20-year-old rookie pick, Ronan Herrmann. 

Wiese, 38, who has played in nearly a dozen different T20 Leagues, is looking forward to his first taste of the SA20 and he too highlighted the importance of strong home support. “From the outside, the optics looked amazing,” he said about last year’s tournament. 

“If you can have success at home, it puts you in a good position for the rest of the tournament. 

“Chennai supporters are fanatical, it's noisy, they get their whistles out, it's quite intimidating especially when you are not used to it.

“It’s something I’m looking forward to experiencing and being on the right side of the whistles for once,” said Wiese, who has played in the IPL for the Kolkata Knight Riders. 

With the start of the Super Kings season delayed by the Gqeberha weather and MI Cape Town coming off a loss in Durban, Saturday’s clash already looms as a crucial one in the tournament, where there is little room for error.

“Starting on the front foot was another box, we wanted to ensure we ticked,” said Makhanya, “because we started a bit slowly last year.”

They won just one out of their first three matches. 

The Cape Town team contains a number of players who usually call the Wanderers home including, Kagiso Rabada, Rassie van der Dussen and their top-scorer from Thursday night’s match in Durban, the prolific Ryan Rickelton.

On Saturday however, the Super Kings will hope to make them feel as far away from home as possible.

The match starts at 1.30pm.