Gqeberha [South Africa], January 14 : Top position on the SA20 log will be up for grabs when Sunrisers Eastern Cape meet Joburg Super Kings in Match 24 at St George's Park on Wednesday.
The Sunrisers (19 points) surrendered their position at the summit when Pretoria Capitals (20 points) leapfrogged the two-time champions after their bonus point victory over MI Cape Town at Centurion, but they can reclaim it with a victory over JSK, as per the SA20 website.
Equally, the Super Kings can move back to the top for the first time since their fourth match, should they overcome the Sunrisers' challenge.
Sunrisers coach Adrian Birrell admits that his team will need to be at their best if they are to move closer to securing a playoff spot.
"It was never going to be easy. You look around, I mean, this team is a formidable team, DSG, that we played against. I would say that we're also a good team. And we're going to play Joburg (Super Kings), and then we're going to play MI Cape Town twice," Birrell said.
"So, there are no easy games, and we never get ahead of ourselves. There was no complacency whatsoever. We always knew it was going to be tricky, and it was just to get into the playoffs and then to try and get to the top two. But we're desperate to try and get into the playoffs," Birrell added.
Joburg Super Kings, meanwhile, will have to push for their playoff spot without their captain, Faf du Plessis.
The JSK skipper was ruled out of the competition on Tuesday after the 41-year-old unfortunately suffered a thumb injury while diving against MI Cape Town at the Wanderers in Game 21.
Middle-order batter Donovan Ferreira has been named stand-in captain for the remainder of the competition, with top-order batter Leus du Plooy called up as a replacement for Du Plessis.
There will therefore be extra responsibility placed on the young shoulders of Dian Forrester, who excelled in his last match with a maiden Betway SA20 half-century.
The youngster is trying to stay focused and not be overawed by the magnitude of facing Sunrisers' potent pace trio of Marco Jansen, Anrich Nortje and Adam Milne.
"Yeah, just try to stick to my routine," Forrester said. "I think at the end of the day, if you get caught up in the moment, you're not watching the ball.
"So, just do my routine, try to breathe, do a lot of off-the-field work with our psychologist, trying to find a nice routine of exactly that. Play the ball, not play the player," Forrester added.
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