Paarl Royals sneak into semis despite big defeat

Paarl Royals sneaked into the semifinals of the SA20 despite suffering a 59-run defeat at the hands of table-toppers Pretoria Capitals in the final league game of the inaugural season, at SuperSport Park in Centurion. The hosts, who were put into bat, clubbed 226/5 from their 20 overs leaving Paarl scrambling to take that final semifinal slot.

The advantage of chasing, however, meant that the Royals had a target within a target to achieve in order to keep their run-rate above that of the Durban Super Giants. Early in the chase, it became apparent that 163 was the magic number being chased by Royals. Even that proved to be difficult as they slipped to 38/3 in the PowerPlay with Jason Roy, Paul Stirling and Mitchell Van Buuren back in the hut.

Buttler held fort at one end and received little support from Eoin Morgan (24 off 12) but once the former England captain and subsequently Paarl's skipper David Miller fell, their chances of progression seemed thin. Sixty-two were still needed off 38 balls but Buttler's experience came to the fore as he overcame a scratchy start to take the onus of keeping Paarl over the NRR line. He lost Andile Phehlukwayo and Adil Rashid off successive but belted two sixes and a four in an 18-run over off Colin Ingram to keep the Royals in the qualification zone.

Royals seemed to slip behind once more when Anrich Nortje delivered a four-run 18th over, leaving the visitors needing 24 off 12 to qualify. But Buttler began James Neesham's penultimate over with a six and two fours, bringing the equation down to a more manageable 12 off 9. Even then though he was dismissed off the following ball for a 45-ball 70, Bjoin Fortuin found a crucial boundary later in the over and nudged his side over the line.

Earlier in the game, the Capitals shrugged off their loss to the Durban Super Giants by ransacking the Paarl bowlers for 226 runs. Leading the batting charge was their Sri Lankan opener Kusal Mendis, who hit 80 off just 41 balls, an innings studded by four sixes and eight fours. Mendis put on 69 with Phil Salt (39 off 21) in just 5.2 overs and batted all the way into the 17th over from where Ingram and Neesham provided the finishing kick. Between them, the pair hit 63 runs off just 32 balls at a strike-rate touching 200.

The same two teams will meet once again in the first semifinal tomorrow in Johannesburg. Joburg Super Kings will take on Sunrisers Eastern Cape at Centurion in the other semifinal

Brief scores: Pretoria Capitals 226/5 in 20 overs (Kusal Mendis 80, Colin Ingram 41; Lungi Ngidi 2-39) beat Paarl Royals 167/9 in 20 overs (Jos Buttler 70; Adil Rashid 2-18) by 59 runs