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So that brings us to the end of the first semi-final. The Pretoria Capitals are the first finalists of the SA20. The action returns tomorrow with the second semi-final lined up to be played between the Joburg Super Kings and the Sunrisers Eastern Cape. The action now moves to the Supersport Park in Centurion for deciding the other finalist. Till then it's good bye and good night from the commentary box. This is Arya Sekhar Chakraborty signing off also on behalf of my fellow commentator and good mate Rajarshi Das.
Theunis de Bruyn (Pretoria Capitals captain): Very happy, these type of wins brings the team closer, The attitude was great. Runs will be less which makes it interesting, It's not a 220 wicket where one team can run away with the game. The kind of experience that they had in the middle order, there was always a sense of pressure with what they can do. That’s our engine room which brings you a trophy. They have been fantastic. As you said, one more game to go and it’s very important for the team to put up one more great performance. It's taking day and by day. It’s about staying calm and if it goes our way it goes our way (on their chances in the final).
Rilee Rossouw (Player of the Match): Before I got the ball It was a discussion, I was the only off spinner and I took the wicket on an all-important semi-final (chuckles). It was a bit two-paced, the new ball went up and down. In a pressure situation, 153 is like 160 170, especially on that type of wicket. We knew that we didn’t have enough score but the bowlers got us through today.
David Miller, Paarl Royals captain: Gut-wrenching to lose the way we did, we bowled really well. There were a couple overs that might have been a bit too expensive, but that happens in T20 cricket. Throughout the innings, we lost a few too many wickets. We couldn't quite gain the momentum, and that happens in cricket, obviously, very disappointed. The wicket was a little bit tacky, it was moving around a bit, they batted well upfront to get Lungi away. Probably 145 was about par with the way we bowled. The last three overs let us down a bit. Obviously, we feel short at the end. We did well in this competition, hard to get momentum throughout the competition, going game by game, we kind of lost 1 in between. We didn't hit our straps, but we know this happens in T20 cricket. We can reflect on getting to the semi-finals, it was a great competition, 3 teams on 19 points. Getting over a line there by a point or so, it's disappointing for it to end this way.
Paarl Royals 124 all-out in 19 overs David Miller 30(27) | Adil Rashid 2/15 | James Neesham 2/19
The Paarl Royals needed to get off to a steady start in order to chase down the tricky target of 154. However, it turned out to be exactly the opposite as the Pretoria Capitals made a breakthrough on the second delivery of the run chase. Eathan Bosch induced a false shot from Roy’s blade as he chipped that straight to the short cover fielder.
Jos Buttler took on Senuran Muthusamy in the powerplay but perished soon after as Eathan Bosch breached through his defence with a rapid delivery. Paul Stirling then took the attack to Anrich Nortje to get the momentum back towards the Royals. It was his dismissal which allowed the Capitals to stamp their ascendancy on the match.
Dane Vilas tried to build an innings and shared an important stand with Stirling, Following their departure, it was the duo of Eoin Morgan and David Miller who tried to steady the ship. Following Morgan’s dismissal, Andile Phehlukwayo took the onus on himself to find some boundaries which made the equation interesting as far as the neutrals are concerned.
However, some quick wickets again pegged them back and Miller was left short of partners. He eventually tried to seal the match for the Royals single-handedly but was holed out in an attempt to play the big shot. It was Nortje who finished off the proceedings with the wickets of Miller and Tabraiz Shamsi to seal the deal for the Pretoria Capitals by 29 runs.
It was the Paarl Royals skipper David Miller who won the toss and put the Pretoria Capitals in. It was a dodgy start from Phil Salt and Kusal Mendis as the duo didn’t really manage to display their fluent best. The opening stand of 19 runs came in the 4th over before Mendis departed at the hands of Bjorn Fortuin. Theunis de Bruyn and Phil Salt couldn’t quite make the charge and was eventually dismissed with the score reading 51/3 in the 9th over.
Rilee Rossouw who had been woefully out of touch coming into this match, looked in good shape from the outset and played some lusty shots to get some sort of semblance to the innings. He shared a good stand with Colin Ingram and was the attacking partner, smashing the Paarl Royals bowlers to the midwicket and the square leg boundaries. He went onto score a fine half-century and was eventually dismissed in the penultimate over, after making a 41 ball 56.
The spin duo of Bjorn Fortuin and Tabraiz Shamsi was the wrecker in chief. Fortuin continue his dream run in the competition while Shamsi also got the ball to turn quite prodigiously. Eathan Bosch and Adil Rashid then smashed a couple of big shots towards the final few overs, as they managed to go past the 150-run mark and that will be a competitive score.
Nortje does the clean-up job as the Pretoria Capitals register a hard-fought victory by 29 runs. It wasn't the greatest of starts for them as a team but they made a good comeback as an all-round unit and in the end, the target of 154 was too steep for the Paarl Royals.
19
overs
124/10score
0
0
W
0
0
W
runs
Tabraiz Shamsi*
0(3)
Lungi Ngidi
0(1)
Anrich Nortje
2/29
18.6 Anrich Nortje to Tabraiz Shamsi, OUT, WOWWWW, what an absolute screamer that is to end the match! Colin Ingram, where's your cape? Good length outside off from Nortje, Shamsi looks to give himself room, free his arms and have a swing at it, he did make contact but ended up skewing it uppishly towards cow corner, Ingram stationed at mid-wicket, ran to his left, leapt towards the ball and was airborne as he latched onto it! The Pretoria Capitals are absolutely ecstatic, Wayne Parnell is up and screaming in delight, they are the first team to make it to the final in the SA20!
Tabraiz Shamsi c Colin Ingram b Anrich Nortje 0 (3b 0x4 0x6)
18.5 Anrich Nortje to Tabraiz Shamsi, short delivery, Shamsi backs away and is far from making contact
18.4 Anrich Nortje to Tabraiz Shamsi, full and straight, Shamsi somehow skewed this one on the bounce towards the man at short mid-wicket
Tabraiz Shamsi, RHB comes out to the crease.
18.3 Anrich Nortje to David Miller, OUT! That should be the end of the Paarl Royals! Miller tried, he tried.....he couldn't get the Paarl Royals past the line! This was full and outside off stump at pace, Miller went for the slog, was a tad bit late on it, couldn't make good connection, Colin Ingram was in business again, he ran across, stationed himself at cow corner and took the catch! Pretoria Capitals are on the doorstep of the SA20 final!
David Miller c Colin Ingram b Anrich Nortje 30 (27b 4x2 6x1)
18.2 Anrich Nortje to David Miller, leg cutter on a good length outside off, Miller is early onto his slog and can't make contact
18.1 Anrich Nortje to David Miller, pacy, length delivery outside off from round the wicket, Miller pulls this one down to the man at long on but doesn't take the run. He wants to get this done all by himself!
Anrich Nortje [3-0-29-0] comes back into the attack.
Miller is still out there and needs to cut loose in the last 2 overs to get his side over the line. 30 required off 12 deliveries.
18
overs
124/8score
1
6
1
0
W
0
runs
Lungi Ngidi*
0(1)
David Miller
30(24)
Migael Pretorius
1/21
17.6 Migael Pretorius to Lungi Ngidi, full on off stump, Ngidi drives this one to the man at mid-off. Miller has strike for the penultimate over!
Lungi Ngidi, RHB is the new man in.
17.5 Migael Pretorius to Bjorn Fortuin, OUT, Fortuin departs! Royals are 8 down! Pretorius hits the pitch hard this time, Fortuin looks to pull across the line, the ball takes a top-edge and flies into the night sky, the man at mid-off, Bosch, runs across, calls for it and takes the catch!
Bjorn Fortuin c Eathan Bosch b Migael Pretorius 2 (4b 4x0 6x0)
17.4 Migael Pretorius to Bjorn Fortuin, off cutter at a good length, Fortuin, early onto his shot, can't get bat on it as the ball creeps over the stumps
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Tabraiz Shamsi
*
Anrich Nortje
Video
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The Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg
