Paarl Royals have successfully chased down the highest score in the SA20 to date to beat Pretoria Capitals at Centurion.  Pretoria Capitals won the toss and elected to bat first. The hosts got off to a very strong start, even though the ever dependable Will Jacks lost his wicket in the powerplay.

Rahmanullah Gurbaz (42 off 29), Will Smeed (54 off 34) and Kyle Verreyne (45 off 23) laid a strong foundation for the Capitals, with James Neesham contributing a helpful 28 not out to take the hosts to 212/5.

The Paarl Royals bowlers shared the spoils with Dayyaan Galiem and Mujeeb Ur-Rahman both taking two wickets and Eshan Malinga taking one.

It looked like the Royals had met their match when their wunderkind, Lhuan-dre Pretorius, was caught and bowled his first ball by Will Jacks.  However, Joe Root (92 not out) and Rubin Hermann (56 off 33) carved out a stellar 125-run partnership. Neesham finally got rid of Hermann to make way for Royals captain David Miller to do what he does best.

Together, Root and Miller (48 not out) chipped away at the score and hit the final runs in the 19th over.  The Capitals’ bowlers were sub-par with Jacks the only bowler to go at under nine runs per over. Neesham, Senuran Muthusamy and Tiaan van Vuuren, in particular, were expensive and lacked urgency.

For his contribution to the win, Joe Root was chosen as the Player of the Match.  Royals will host Joburg Super Kings on Monday at Boland Park.

OFM Sport/Ilse Smalberger