SA20: Roelof van der Merwe's energy is contagious, says Pragyan Ojha

New Delhi, Jan 23 (IANS) Sunrisers Eastern Cape moved to second place in the points table as they secured their fourth win in SA20 defeating Durban's Super Giants by 124 runs.

It was a Roelof van der Merwe show throughout as the veteran spinner delivered the bowling performance of the SA20 thus far and demolished the opposition with his spell of 6/20. With this performance, he now jointly leads the highest wicket takers list (12 wickets in five matches) in SA20, with Paarl Royals' Bjorn Fortuin.

Viacom18 Sports expert Pragyan Ojha said van der Merwe gives his best for any side he represents.

"He is 38 and yet he was looking very hungry for doing well for his team and any team that he plays for. Similar thing we saw when he took a catch and South Africa was out of the tournament (ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2022). So, that energy is very contagious and kudos to him."

Ojha also joked and said that spinners from both the teams seemed like bowling in different surfaces as the Durban's Super Giants' spinners could not get any wickets while their counterparts from Sunrisers Eastern Cape picked up nine.

"At one point, I thought maybe, during the first innings break, the wicket was shifted. There was so much difference between the bowlers. I was expecting a lot from someone like Maharaj (Keshav) because he has played all the formats. He has played for the country, he has been doing that but the way he was bowling, it looked like he was being defensive and when you look at his counterpart, Van Der Merwe, he was aggressive," added Ojha.

--IANS

cs