Betting Tips

Pretoria Capitals will be looking forward to returning to Centurion. They have happy memories of dominating last year’s champions at home which will give them the confidence they need for taking on a strong Paarl Royals unit. Paarl Royals will be relying on their bowling attack to make full use of bowling conditions which may assist swing and seam bowling.

Pretoria Capitals vs Paarl Royals Head-to-Head Record

These teams have shared exciting encounters over the years. The Paarl Royals have won three games against their hosts with the two most recent games being back-to-back victories. The Capitals won two games in a row before that.

Pretoria Capitals vs Paarl Royals Live-streaming and Broadcast

Pretoria Capitals will host Paarl Royals at SuperSport Park, Centurion on Saturday, 18 January 2025 for this SA20 match. In India, the Star Sports 2 Network TV broadcast and the Disney+ Hotstar app live-streaming will cover this game.

PC vs PR Team Previews

Pretoria Capitals

At the top, Will Jacks and Rahmanullah Gurbaz will steal the show in the first six overs with fielding restrictions in place. 23-year-old Gurbaz has 314 ILT20 runs. Kyle Verreynne, a reliable wicketkeeper-batter, follows them as a batter who can up the tempo from the get-go or rotate the strike to keep the innings on track. He top-scored against the Super Kings with 39 runs.

Rilee Rossouw, the captain and veteran campaigner, adds stability and firepower with his experience and attacking mindset.

Liam Livingstone and James Neesham bring invaluable all-round skills, capable of turning matches with bat or ball. Livingstone is an extra spin option with the ability to bowl both off-spin and leg-spin. The Englishman has an impressive combination of 6676 runs and 127 wickets in his T20 career.

Neesham adds medium-pace bowling. He also scored a valuable 30 runs in his previous batting innings. Marques Ackerman and Senuran Muthusamy provide depth and flexibility. Ackerman can adjust to most T20 scenarios and Muthusamy gives Rossouw an extra bowling and batting option. Ackerman has seven T20 half-centuries.

The energetic Migael Pretorius gives the fast bowlers control and pace. The accurate Eathan Bosch will make a case for himself as a bowler to watch this season and adding to the promise he showed in 2024 and 2023. His wickets total for his entire SA20 career is 23 wickets.

The talented young left-armer Tiaan van Vuuren will express himself under the guidance of the other pace bowlers.

Pretoria Capitals Expected Playing 11

Paarl Royals

David Miller brings T20 experience that no money can buy. The Royals will be banking on their skipper’s calm leadership and explosive finishing abilities. He guided them home to victory with 24 runs unbeaten. Joe Root brings stability to the top order with his capability of adapting to different situations.

Youngsters Lhuan-dre Pretorius and Mitchell van Buuren add more talent and depth to the batting lineup. Pretorius played yet another crucial knock in front of his home crowd when he scored 83 runs off 52 balls before being bizarrely run out. Van Buuren has more than 270 SA20 runs.

Behind the stumps, Dinesh Karthik is a crucial addition. His experience as a wicketkeeper-batter adds flexibility and sharp cricketing acumen in between a youthful squad. The experienced Indian cricketer has played 404 T20 matches in his lengthy career.

Andile Phehlukwayo and Dunith Wellalage bolster the all-round department with key contributions in batting and bowling. Phehlukwayo has a combination of 121 T20 wickets and 978 T20 runs.

In the bowling unit, Bjorn Fortuin and Mujeeb Ur Rahman will play pivotal roles with their spin variations on South African tracks. Afghan spinner Mujeeb Ur Rahman took two wickets in Paarl. Left-arm spinner Fortuin has 21 SA20 wickets.

Young speedster Kwena Maphaka looks set to make an impact this year. The versatile Dayyaan Galiem completes the squad as an important batter and bowler.

Paarl Royals Expected Playing 11

PC vs PR Toss Prediction

History in this fixture favours batting first. Four of the five matches between the two have been won by the team batting first. Conditions may be more favourable for bowling first though. Both captains could choose to bowl first based on conditions.

Pitch and Conditions

The weather may change how the pitch plays in the earlier stages of the game. The damp weather may make bowling easier at the start with the seam bowlers potentially able to extract movement off the pitch. The spinners may need to adjust to bowling balls that skid on the surface rather than spin.

The batters will need to be wary in the powerplay before taking the bowlers on in the second half of the innings. Both teams scored 200 runs or more at SuperSport Park in 2024.

There are scattered showers expected in Centurion on matchday with a 20 percent chance of rain. The players will also have to navigate hot and humid temperatures.

PC vs PR Betting Tips

The Royals have had an indifferent start in their first two games with a home win before taking an away loss. They will have to travel again for this game to play in somewhat foreign highveld conditions. Pretoria Capitals have won their only home game of the season against the defending champions.

Their familiarity with their home venue and confidence from the win against a strong Sunrisers Eastern Cape side may put them as favourites.

Bet on the Pretoria Capitals to win this match.