Durban’s Super Giants batting order haven’t really got their engines fired up this SA20 season but they still have a slim chance of making the play-offs, according to head coach Lance Klusener.
Klusener was reflecting on his team’s fifth consecutive loss against MI Cape Town in the Mother City on Saturday evening. Cape Town thrashed the Giants by seven wickets.
With two matches remaining before the play-offs, ‘Zulu’ is clinging to the hope that his boys can push their foot in the door. Each SA20 win is worth four points while a draw is worth one.
As it stands, DSG have eight points after eight matches. If they win their next two matches, with the addition of two bonus points, then the Giants may just sneak in through the back door.
“I think we have a responsibility to ourselves, the owners and sponsors,” Klusner said. “We have been disappointed with the way we turned up in this competition.
“I think Sunrisers qualified with four wins in the first season so we live in hope. But there was a little bit of light (Saturday).
“I thought Kane (Williamson) and Heinrich (Klaasen’s) partnership was outstanding in tough conditions. A little bit of light but just disappointed I think.
“Excellent players are only one innings away from getting going and it has been tough for Heinrich. Not just his, there’s been a couple players who didn’t get going.
“Generally, if you get a 100 partnership in a T20 game, you win 70% of those games. But 22/4 was a tough spot to be in.”
DSG’s top three batters put 15 runs on the board, while Marcus Stoinos got out for a duck. The only real contributions were made by Klaasen and Williamson. Klaasen’s knock of 66 restored some hope in DSG staff and fans as the heavy-hitting Protea suffered poor form this season.
No doubt, the 66 runs could have also given Klaasen the much needed vote of confidence both he and his team require at this stage of the tournament.
“I think in other innings I didn’t watch the ball long enough to see it onto the bat and ended up making the same mistake twice,” Klaasen said. “I played a little better within myself just to get to some score.
“The team needed to get a partnership going. Sometimes it is what you need because I felt it easier to pull the trigger when I was 30/30 but its part of the game and you need to get through it.”
Klusner, who has been coaching franchise cricket for 15 years, believes the Giants didn’t pick up the momentum he generally sees at the tail end of a tournament. He said the roster is filled with talent that just didn’t get into form this season but are still trying to push on.
“It is difficult to put a finger on it [cause of performance] but generally in cricket, if your top players are not scoring runs then it kind of looks ugly.
“I think from a coaching perspective, we just have to keep our players positive because we need them in a couple days' time. You gotta keep them seeing and hearing good things.
“I have been doing franchise cricket for like 15 years now and do 4 seasons a year so I know it's about not taking anything for granted. Because when it does change, it changes quickly and it can go like this.
“Normally you pick up speed at some stage but we haven’t so that's been a disappointment. I thought we were a little bit off and left a little bit too much to do for the next guy coming in but it goes like that sometimes, that’s sport,” Klusener concluded.