Royals off to the perfect start
SA20: TOO GOOD FOR FOR CAPITALS ON A TRICKY WICKET
The Paarl Royals cruised to a comfortable 27-run win over the Pretoria Capitals in their SA20 match at Boland Park in Paarl last night. The Royals batted first, managing a decent 160/7 on a tricky surface before a superb all-round bowling effort, led by their legion of spinners, throttling the Capitals as they ended well short on 133/7.
Phil Salt, 39 off 31 balls (3x4, 2x6) batted well at the top of the order but Will Jacks (5) popped a return catch to bowler Lungi Ngidi and Theunis de Bruyn (5) edged Obed McCoy to keeper Jos Buttler leaving them on 39/2 in the fifth over.
Rilee Rossouw, 29 off 18 (1x4, 2x6), then combined with Salt to double the total in a 30-ball stand before Rossouw was stunningly caught by a running and leaping Mitchell van Buuren in the deep off the bowling of Andile Phehlukwayo with the score 78/3 in the 10th over.
Salt followed in the next, trapped LBW by Tabraiz Shamsi as they slipped to 84/4 and his wicket ended any chance they had as the rest of the batters struggled to hit the boundary including Jimmy Neesham, 21 off 18 (3x4), and Eathan Bosch (16no off 19) as they couldn’t get close.
The Royals innings got off to a decent start as Jason Roy, 23 off 16 (3x4, 1x6) and Buttler (14) shared 42 for the first wicket within the first five overs.
The Capitals however fought back as Neesham made the breakthrough bowling Roy, Daryn Dupavillon had Buttler caught by Colin Ingram and Wihan Lubbe (11) was caught by Senuran Muthusamy off the bowling of Jacks as they slipped to 56/3 in the ninth over.
Captain David Miller, 41 off 33 (4x4) and Van Buuren, 28 off 21 (1x4, 1x6) fought back for the Royals as they shared in a 61-run fourth wicket stand off 44 balls to get them back on track.
They started slowly before picking the rate up as they took their side over the hundred run mark before Van Buuren was caught by Muthusamy off the bowling of Eathan Bosch with the score 117/4.
Regular wickets fell over the rest of the innings, including Miller bowled by Corbin Bosch, while Phehlukwayo, 28no off 14 (4x4, 1x6) produced a late innings cameo to get his side to a defendable score.
The SA20 action today will be in Joburg and Gqeberha when the Joburg Super Kings entertain MI Cape Town at the Wanderers while the Sunrisers Eastern Cape will host Durban’s Super Giants respectively.
It will be the first match for Faf du Plessis and his Super Kings this season, after the washout in Gqeberha on Wednesday, while MI Cape Town will be keen to hit back after their narrow loss on Thursday.
The Sunrisers, like the Super Kings, will be keen for some action after the rain prevented play at St George’s earlier in the week, while DSG will be full of confidence after their win.