The win firmly secured the Royals’ spot in the playoffs of South Africa’s premier T20 competition. It will now be a matter of closing out their tournament strongly during a series of away games before the knockout rounds.

The DSG won the toss in Paarl and elected to bat first. They were restricted to 143/7 in their 20 overs, with Australian international Marcus Stoinis scoring 55 not out off 40 balls, while New Zealand captain Kane Williamson contributed 45 off 36 deliveries.

Proteas spinner Bjorn Fortuin was the pick of the bowlers for the Royals with figures of 2/20 in his four overs, while teenage sensation Kwena Maphaka claimed 2/22.

n reply, the Royals lost the wicket of English batter Joe Root to the first ball of their innings when he was trapped LBW by DSG spinner Prenelan Subrayen. Rubin Hermann, of the North West Dragons, scored 59, while big-hitting teenager Lhuan-dré Pretorius contributed 43 as the Royals chased down the target with a ball to spare.

The world’s leading Test batter, Root, who will be available to play for the Royals in just one more game before joining up with England, said their ability as a team to adapt to any conditions has been a major strength in their solid campaign.

“I think the fact that we’ve had to be quite dynamic and assess the different surfaces and conditions we’ve faced – only losing one game to this point – shows that we've adapted well,” said Root.

“They’ve been quite different throughout the games we’ve played here. I think that shows we are being real smart about how we make the most of what’s in front of us, staying present in every game, which has served us well so far.

“When we’ve had the opportunity to play on something slightly flatter, we’ve recognised that early and managed to go on and, you know – bar that Cape Town game – win the match.”

On Tuesday, the Pretoria Capitals will face the Joburg Super Kings at SuperSport Park. This match in Centurion is scheduled to start at 17:30.

OFM Sport/Morgan Piek cg