The tearaway pacer Anrich Nortje has been identified by David Miller, who will be the Paarl Royals’ captain in the inaugural season of the 2017 SA20 league, as a significant challenge who will bring in attack and who is eager to defeat him in the competition. When Paarl Royals and MI Cape Town square off on January 10, the SA20’s inaugural season will get off in Cape Town. Even though South Africa didn’t advance to the quarterfinals at the Men’s T20 World Cup in Australia, Nortje stood out by taking 11 wickets in five matches with an economy rate of 5.37 and two four-wicket hauls. Nortje has signed with Pretoria Capitals to play in the SA20.
David Miller, captain of the Paarl Royals, expressed his excitement about working with a new team that includes a good mix of senior players with experience and youthful talent in an interview with SA20 by saying: “Yeah, I’m very excited. We’ve got a great squad and looking forward to linking up with all the guys in early Jan. We’ve got some good experienced players, World Cup winner Captain Jos Buttler as well, so that’s going to be really cool and then Eoin Morgan as well with all the experience in the World Cup in his bank, so yeah good great experienced senior players and a lot of young players are looking forward to it.”
Miller further spoke on who he is looking forward to facing the most and how he is going to handle the opposition’s bowlers, he said “I don’t really have anything against anyone, probably going to be Anrich Nortje, fastest bowler on the circuit at the moment. So, I know he’s going to come in hot and he’s going to bring his aggression, but I’m looking forward to taking him down.” Miller is eager to compete against English left-arm pace all-rounder Sam Curran, who will be representing MI Cape Town in the competition. England defeated Pakistan by seven wickets in the T20 World Cup championship match, and Curran was named Player of the Match and Tournament.
Miller further said “There are so many good bowlers but I would probably say Sam Curran has definitely had a little bit of an upper hand on me over the last couple of years. He’s just got Man of the Series and Man of the Match in the World Cup and he’s in top form. So, I’m looking forward to facing him but getting on top of him as well.” Some of the most successful cricketers in the world, including Jos Butler, Lungi Ngidi, Tabraiz Shamsi, Jason Roy, and Eoin Morgan, are on the Paarl Royals roster. The Paarl Royals pre-bought Tabraiz Shamsi, the most expensive player in the team, as well as David Miller, Jos Buttler, Obed Mcoy, and Corbin Bosch during the auctions.
