The Boland Park and Newlands sell-out crowds were abuzz as their home teams delighted with sizzling performances.
England World Cup-winner and legend Joe Root struck a masterful 78 not out and claimed two wickets to steer the Paarl Royals into the Betway SA20 Playoffs at a fiercely hot Boland Park on Saturday afternoon.
The Royals became the first team in Season 3 to qualify for the next stage of the competition after their 11-run victory over Pretoria Capitals. The Royals top the log with 24 points
Root showed off all experience and class to navigate a tricky Boland Park surface in the searing midday sun. The former English skipper was the epitome of orthodoxy as he drove beautifully down the ground but also showed that he had the ability to innovate with a majestic switch hit off Will Jacks. His innings took him to the top of the leading runs-scorer table, with 279 runs at an average of just below 70.
The rest of the Royals batting order wilted under the Paarl sun before captain David Miller walked to the crease.
Miller immediately injected some impetus into the innings with an unbeaten 29 from 18 balls, which included two mighty slog-sweeps for six. It formed part of a 33-ball unbroken 59-run partnership that lifted the Royals to 140/4.
“The most important thing is to read the surface and figure out the score you need. Today was a case of being brave enough to take it deeper and you might have a better match-up down the line. I thought we did that pretty well,” Player of the Match Root said.
The Capitals’ run-chase stalled from the outset as the Royals five-man spin attack of Bjorn Fortuin, Dunith Wellalage, Mujeeb-ur-Rahman, Nqabayomzi Peter and Root spun their web.
It was the first time in the history of Betway SA20 that one team bowled all 20 overs utilising only spin bowlers.
Fortuin (2/20) and Wellalage struck in the Powerplay to reduce the Capitals to 23/3.
However, Jacks took a page out of fellow Englishman Root’s book by stabilising the Capitals’ innings with a solid 56 off 53 balls. Jacks and Kyle Verreynne (30 off 33 balls) compiled a 77-run partnership of 67 balls to bring the visitors back into the contest, but ultimately, they could not deny the Royals on this sweltering day.
Mujeeb picked up the big wicket of Verreynne before Root closed out the job he had started with the bat by picking up two wickets at the death.
“Jacksy played a brilliant innings, and they were close to matching it. It was a great game of cricket. I really enjoyed my time here, I want to keep putting in winning performances,” Root added.
Fellow Western Cape team MI Cape Town also maintained their winning ways to hold on to second position.
MI Cape Town thrilled another sold out Newlands Saturday evening crowd with a bonus point victory over Durban’s Super Giants.
Ryan Rickelton led a superb run-chase with 63 off 41 balls upfront with opening partner Rassie van der Dussen (24 off 18 balls). The duo ate a chunk out of the 150-run target with a 75-run first wicket partnership in just 8.1 overs.
This allowed Dewald Brevis (26 not out off 16 balls) and George Linde (29 not out off eight balls) to power MI Cape Town home with 5.1 overs remaining.
Linde, in particular, was in a destructive mood by smashing Super Giants’ new Australian recruit Marcus Stoinis for four sixes in an over to bring the match to a speedy close.
Earlier, Player of the Match Heinrich Klaasen (66 off 43 balls) and Kane Williamson (56 not out off 44 balls) tried their best to get the Super Giant up to a competitive 149/6 after slumping to 22/4.
Unfortunately, it was not enough on the night as Lance Klusener’s team are now perilously close to missing out on the playoffs this season.
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The longest cricket match occurred in 1939 between South Africa and England. The game lasted for 14 days and ended in a draw.