SA20 2024: Marcus Stoinis joins Durban Super Giants for remaining season

Thursday, 18 January 2024: Australian World Cup winner, Marcus Stoinis, has joined Durban’s Super Giants (DSG) for the remainder of the SA20. The destructive all-rounder replaces West Indian Nicholas Pooran, bolstering the in-form DSG squad who are currently second on the table with three wins out of three. 

The 34-year-old Perth native is a veteran of 127 international matches across formats for Australia, and a further 250 T20 matches worth of experience. Stoinis also plays for Indian Premier League outfit Lucknow Super Giants, the affiliate of Durban’s Super Giants.

Afghanistan’s Naveen-ul-Haq has also linked up with the DSG squad ahead of their big clash against Pretoria Capitals on Thursday evening. Ul-Haq comes in for Richard Gleeson, bringing with him his vast global T20 experience. 

Commenting on the new faces, Betway SA20 League Commissioner Graeme Smith said: “We’ve had an action-packed start to the opening week of Season 2 with some high-quality cricket and entertainment on show. We can see the teams pulling out all the stops and bringing in some world-class players into their squads, it’s great to have the caliber of these players joining the League.”

Jos Buttler and Lungi Ngidi steer Paarl Royals to pole position in the SA20 points table

Talking about the latest match of SA20, Jos Buttler and Lungi Ngidi steered the Paarl Royals to a seven-wicket bonus point victory over Joburg Super Kings (JSK) at Boland Park on Wednesday evening. 

The Royals maintained their 100% record with their third consecutive victory, while JSK remain winless after four matches. Unlike in previous matches at Boland Park where the spinners have dominated, it was the Royals’ seamers that set up the win. 

Obed McCoy (2/31) set the Royals in motion by removing Reeza Hendricks before the impressive Ngidi got into the act in the final over of the Power Play. The competition’s leading wicket-taker pegged back the men in yellow with wickets off successive balls when he clean-bowled Faf du Plessis (9) before having debutant Wayne Madsen caught by Mitchell van Buuren at third man for a first-ball duck. 

 Ngidi (3/17) failed to claim the first hat-trick of the competition when Moeen Ali defended the next ball but returned at the death to claim his third wicket of the evening. JSK also suffered three runouts, including that of top-scorer Leus du Plooy (71 off 43 balls) to be dismissed for 134.

Royals wicket-keeper, Buttler, was pivotal to the run-outs as he threw down the stumps on two occasions with the visitors looking to steal a single. The Royals’ run chase was never in danger with Buttler masterminding the chase superbly with an undefeated 70 off 37 balls (8x4, 3x6). 

 The England skipper, who was the competition’s leading run-scorer and Batter of the Season in Season 1, looked in ominous form ahead of the weekend’s Cape Derbies against MI Cape Town.

Wihan Lubbe provided support with a 30-ball 39 before veteran leg-spinner Imran Tahir trapped him LBW. It, however, proved to be a mere consolation for the visitors as they now look to turn their season around in the Jukskei Derby against Pretoria Capitals at the Wanderers on Saturday.