Sourav Ganguly’s first match as head coach ended in defeat as Pretoria Capitals imploded against Jo’burg Super Kings in the SA20 on Saturday 27 December. Gangulas, who replaced Jonathan Trott at the helmsaw his team beaten by 22 runs as the JSK bowlers produced a masterful performance.
Ganguly made a big impression on the auction table with the Capitals a season ago, beating the likes of Dewald Brevis and Keshav Maharaj. However, the performance on the day was not up to par as Brevis was dismissed for six runs and Maharaj was wicketless.
Rilee Rossouw’s 48 and Wiaan Mulder’s 43 helped the Super Kings post a modest 168 for six in their 20 overs at SuperSport Park, which is known to be a chasing wicket. A late cameo from Akeal Hosein, who scored 22 off 10 balls, got JSK into the total and they went into it with good momentum.
The Capitals started the chase in great fashion, scoring 48 overs as Will Smeed and Bryce Parsons put on 71 shots for the first wicket. However, things started to unravel once Smeed was dismissed in the ninth.
Wickets began to fall for the home side as they were reduced to 89 for five in the 13th over as Duan Jansen wreaked havoc in the batting line-up. Marc Jansen’s twin took the wickets of Parsons, Shai Hope, Connor Estherhuizen and Daniel Smith to finish with figures of four for 23 in his four overs.
After Smith was dismissed by Jansen, Richard Gleeson took care of the lower order and finished with figures of two for 33. Apart from the four batsmen, none of the others crossed the double figure mark for the Capitals in the opening game of the SA20 season for Ganguly’s side.
The Capitals last finished fifth in the points table and will be hoping to bounce back quickly when they take on two-time champions Eastern Cape away from home on Monday 29 December.
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Published on:
December 27, 2025
