'Keep Calm and Keep a Clear Mind' – Gleeson Reflects After Emerging as Hero in SA20 Super Over

Richard Gleeson became the hero for Joburg Super Kings by delivering a phenomenal Super Over against Durban Super Giants in a recent SA20 match. His smart bowling restricted DSG to just 5 runs, which was then chased easily by JSK, courtesy of some aggressive batting by Rilee Rossouw. The execution of tight lengths by Gleeson in the Super Over was fantastic, as it made hitting nearly impossible for the DSG batters.

Reflecting on his Super Over performance after the match, Richard Gleeson said that tough moments like these give a bowler plenty of confidence. They help a player understand the quality of their skills and how those skills deliver results during crucial moments.

"You don't want easy wins each game. They are great but it's moments like these where you are under pressure and you have to fall back on your skills, which gives you great confidence as a bowler," said Richard Gleeson at the post-match press conference.

He then explained how delivering such overs becomes difficult when the conditions are not suitable for bowling. However, he managed to produce the right results by drawing on his past experience and keeping his mind simple and clear.

"That's the big bit: trying to execute under pressure. You can practice as much as you want but when you get wet conditions, with the dew and you're under pressure with the crowd, it is difficult. I've got a few techniques that we use with the psychologist and I've done it quite a bit in the past. I just call on that experience to try and keep calm and keep a clear mind." said Richard Gleeson.

On the first ball of the Super Over, Gleeson would have dismissed Evan Jones if Matthew de Villiers had held on to the catch. It was eventually dropped, which gave Gleeson a fleeting thought that it might cost Joburg Super Kings the match. However, he quickly put the incident behind him and backed himself to deliver the rest of the over tightly.

"[I thought], you've just dropped the match. But I backed myself. I knew I was executing and the next ball was the most important." said Richard Gleeson.

Playing Mind Games with the Batters

He then described his planning for the Super Over, saying that he tried to outfox batters by using various types of deliveries. He made sure not to become predictable, so the batters could not anticipate his bowling lengths on the pitch.

"The plans going into the Super Over were really simple: to try and execute the yorkers, try and get them to hit to the longer part of the boundary but not be too predictable," said Richard Gleeson.

Having full confidence in short balls, Gleeson knew that he could make the batting difficult for DSG batters if his yorkers were not executed perfectly. He wanted to keep the batters guessing by mixing various deliveries cleverly.

"I knew I had the short ball I could go to, pace off, so I just wanted to try and keep them guessing and have the batter thinking about two deliveries instead of just one." said Richard Gleeson.

The brilliance of Gleeson’s Super Over was also admitted by Evan Jones. He tried to hit big shots during the over, but remained unsuccessful due to the quality of Gleeson’s smart bowling. Despite the loss, Jones remains confident that his team can go a long way in the SA20 2026 season. He believes they will take plenty of lessons from this game to move forward strongly.

"We take this game as a good thing. We came quite close. With the experience in our team, and a young fast bowler [Kwena Maphaka], we tick a lot of boxes. We'll keep our heads down, play good cricket, and I am pretty sure the results will take care of themselves." said Evan Jones.