Paarl Rocks captain Faf du Plessis is banking on his spinners to bowl them to victory over log-leading Nelson Mandela Bay Giants on Wednesday night (5.30pm).
In Tabraiz Shamsi and Bjorn Fortuin, Rocks have two of the top spinners in this year’s Mzansi Super League.
The spin twins again proved their worth in their two-run derby victory over Cape Town Blitz at Newlands on Sunday, with both taking two wickets.
Shamsi has been the star of the two to date, bagging seven wickets - joint fourth-most in the tournament.
Fortuin is also in the top 10 with five.
RIPPING IT UP: Tabraiz Shamsi. Picture: Ryan Wilkisky/BackpagePix.
And Du Plessis believes that if they want to knock Giants off the top in Port Elizabeth on Wednesday, these guys will have to perform.
Du Plessis says: “They are two players that are experienced spinners - international spinners, so they play a big role for us in this team.
“That’s why we went early for those two - I call it spin it to win it.”
THREAT: Giants ace Imran Tahir. Picture: Deryck Foster/BackpagePix.
Sharing fourth place with Shamsi is Proteas legend Imran Tahir, who will be spinning his stuff for the Giants at the other end.
Apart from the threat he poses, Du Plessis believes the Giants are a complete unit.
He says: “They have been playing some really good cricket, they’ve got a really good team.
“If we can turn them over, it will be a huge win. But there are a few things to work on and hopefully we can rock up there and win.”
The work-ons for Rocks include finishing off teams.
%%%twitter https://twitter.com/Paarl_Rocks?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Paarl_Rocksin a nutshell:
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Come through and take your seat at Boland Park...💺
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Du Plessis believes they should have killed off Blitz earlier in the derby on Sunday and explains: “We were brilliant until about 16 overs and then we started making sift mistakes.
“We are really hard on ourselves. To be in that position, you probably have to nail the game down with 16 runs to go.
“There were a couple of dropped catches, no balls - you don’t want to do things like that because obviously it brings the opposition back into the game.”