Sundowns and Ajax handed home semis

Mamelodi Sundowns and Ajax Cape Town were both handed home draws in the Nedbank Cup semifinal draw conducted in Nelspruit yesterday after the conclusion of the weekend’s quarterfinal fixtures.

Sundowns will host Vasco da Gama of the National First Division in a real David versus Goliath encounter while Ajax have a tough tie against SuperSport United‚ who won the Telkom Knockout last November.

Sundowns have played their last two rounds away from home at Platinum Stars and Mpumalanga Black Aces‚ who they beat 2-0 in Nelspruit yesterday‚ but Ajax get a home match for a third successive round.

They had good fortune in beating Bloemfontein Celtic and Bidvest Wits in their last two cup encounters.

It is the third successive season that Ajax meet SuperSport in a cup tie. Over the last two campaigns‚ SuperSport have eliminated the Cape Town outfit in the Telkom Knockout - once on post-match penalties and last season in a narrow 2-1 victory.

But Ajax took four points off SuperSport in the league this season‚ including a 2-1 away win last month.

Vasco’s two meetings with Sundowns in their only season in the top flight in the 2010-11 campaign were both 0-1 defeats.

This year’s semifinals will be played on April 25 and 26. The Premier Soccer League should announce in the next 48 hours the dates‚ venues and kick off times of the two semifinal encounters.

-RDM, Newswire