Gideon Peters stunned the cricket world with some searing pace on his SA20 debut for Pretoria Capitals against Joburg Super Kings on Tuesday.
The intent with which the new franchise T20 tournament was launched in South Africa three years ago continues to live up to the expectations. SA20 has not only been providing quality cricket and entertainment but has been revolutionary in terms of tactics. The league has also highlighted the sheer depth of talent the country possesses.
In the long list of potential future Protea stars, we have another addition in the form of Gideon Peters. Pretoria Capitals, who lost Anrich Nortje and Daryn Dupavillon to injuries, had been struggling in the season and needed some inspiration to mount a late semifinals charge. They found that in Gideon Peters as they restricted the Super Kings to 99 for 9 and chased it down in 12 overs.
When someone makes two international stars look clueless in the first outing on the big stage, that is special talent. Gideon Peters, who wasn’t even a part of the SA20 two weeks back, would not have thought his moment would come this sooner.
The 25-year-old shared the new ball and didn’t take long to find his rhythm. His second over was the highlight of the match, where he dismissed Devon Conway and Moeen Ali. First Peters bowled a well directed bouncer to Conway, who was too late on the pull and edged it behind.
He then bowled a back-of-a-length delivery to the new batter, on which Moeen was rushed. Peters followed it up with a pitch-perfect yorker. The former England batter went back to counter the pace but was beaten, getting hit plumb in front. At the end of the innings, the fast bowler had figures of 2 for 15 in four overs. Peters consistently clocked over 140 kmph in his spell.
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Looking at his domestic record, one can say Gideon Peters had not done enough. He has 58 wickets from 22 FC matches at 31.36 and 21 scalps from 16 List A games at 30.28 apiece. He has done a better job in the shorter format, with 23 wickets from 16 games at 7.57 economy.
While Peters’ overall numbers don’t look that impressive, he has the raw talent. He has the pace and has rushed batters often in domestic cricket. Something that should have brought him an SA20 contract earlier. On his SA20 debut, he showed good control and the bowling smarts, evident by the way he dismissed Moeen Ali, who was hanging back for a short delivery.
South Africa currently have a strong pool of fast bowlers but the thing with fast bowlers is they are injury prone. Just in recent times, the Proteas men team was dealt with two blows, with Nortje and Gerald Coetzee getting sidelined.
If Gideon Peters can build on from this debut display and put in some consistent performances in coming months, an opportunity in the Protea shirt could be on the way.
