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That's all we have for you from this contest. There's a double-header lined up tomorrow - the Super Kings-Indians rivalry will see a new chapter unfold at the Wanderers first, followed by a contest between the Sunrisers Eastern Cape and the Durban Super Giants in the evening. Join us right here on Sportskeeda for our coverage of the same, and a whole lot more! This is Rajarshi Das, signing off on behalf of Pradeep. Good night!
Andile Phehlukwayo is the Player Of The Match! Here's what he has to say: Was good to be out in the park having not played in a while. A little bit emotional for me as well. The wicket was quite tough at the beginning. The partnership between David (Miller) and Mitch (van Buuren) was quite important for us. The guys bowled quite well as well. When you start to get momentum and a niggle happens, it's quite difficult. But I have been on the right side. I worked hard, and now I feel good. This season is important for us, and we need all the support from the fans.
David Miller (Paarl Royals captain): It was a bit tight after that powerplay, couple of lucky shots over third man there for six, put us under pressure, brought it back which we thought we would and guys executed well, extremely pleased. We've got a good bowling attack, confident to defend anything, it was just really the score that we had, it was difficult to come in score, unless it's in powerplay, anything over 160 is always a good score on this track. Fantastic to see the crowd, this competition grown from strength to strength, it's just nice to see the buzz and the energy, people coming in great numbers, it's really got a lot about the competition.
James Neesham (Pretoria Capitals captain): Not an ideal surface, you can't have belters every game, I thought we did well to restrict them to 160, which was a par score and they bowled extremely well in the middle overs, we made tough for ourself to score, especially tough for new batters get going. They've picked a team that suits their home ground, you expect them to bowl well, Lungi and couple of other guys bowled extremely well, used their slower balls to good affect and didn't really give us much to work with. You don't take a lot out of the loss like that, the surface will be different in a couple of days time, we have a line-up that suited our surface just like Paarl, obviously disappointed, but we got a lot of experience in the line-up, not a lot of guys carry scars through for the rest of the tournament, just a matter of dusting ourselves off and getting ready for the next one. It's just about preparation, but we came in yesterday, certainly no excuses as far as the preparation is concerned, we got guys who have played all around the world, Bangladesh, India, certainly nothing new, don't think it was a terrible surface, we're all professionals, it's all about adapting.
Match summary:
Paarl Royals win by 27 runs
David Miller 41(33) | Andile Phehlukwayo 2/29 (4) Phil Salt 39(31) | Daryn Dupavillon 2/29 (4)
What a remarkable fightback this turned out to be from the home side! They were in with a chance of gaining a bonus point going into the last over, such was the miserliness they maintained throughout the middle overs! A mere 29 runs were scored between overs 10 to 17 - over the course of which the Capitals lost a well-set Phil Salt and their entire middle order.
As it turned out, Salt and Rossouw were the only batters who seemed capable of guiding the Capitals home. The Capitals were well and truly in the hunt at the end of the powerplay, having been powered to a total of 54 albeit losing Will Jacks and Theunis de Bruyn along the way. Salt seemed to be on a mission from the word go, taking 14 off the first over off the run-chase off Bjorn Fortuin.
There seemed to be quite a lot of aid for the Royals pacers early on. Lungi Ngidi and Obed McCoy accounted for the two wickets in the powerplay, getting some steep bounce and movement off the deck. Rilee Rossouw walked in and seemed right at home going into the middle overs, but a spectacular catch from Mitchell van Buuren at deep backward square saw the back of him, and sparked an epic turnaround for the Royals.
Phil Salt followed the next over, playing all around a leg-break from Shamsi. Corbin Bosch, Colin Ingram, James Neesham and Eathan Bosch all struggled against some top-notch defensive bowling from the Royals. David Miller rotated his bowlers to great effect, choking the runs down completely in the process. Of course, the fielding was a standout feature for the Royals as well - evident from the dismissals and the number of runs they saved!
Neesham and Eathan Bosch left too much for the death overs, and the duo of McCoy and Ngidi killed the game off with an over remaining. Neesham got a few off the middle in the last over, but it was far, far too late by then. Right, onto the presentations now...
Too late, far too late from Jimmy Neesham! Those hits needed to come much, much earlier - the Paarl Royals complete an epic defence of their total!
20
overs
133/7score
4
4
4
1
1wd
1
w
runs
Jimmy Neesham*
21(18)
Eathan Bosch
16(19)
Andile Phehlukwayo
2/29
19.6 Andile Phehlukwayo to James Neesham, OUT! PICKED OUT DEEP MID-WICKET! ROYALS THUMP CAPITALS! Paarl Royals register a win of the first game, emphatic stuff this from them. Back of a length on the off-stump, Neesham hangs back and hoicks it, doesn't get enough elevation as it went straight to Allen who pouches it safely.
19.5 Andile Phehlukwayo to Eathan Bosch, length delivery outside the off-stump, Bosch has a wild swing and mistimes it again to long-on for one.
19.5 Andile Phehlukwayo to Eathan Bosch, WIDE! Slower one, but goes just outside the tramline as Bosch swings and misses. Phehlukwayo is not too pleased with that decision from the umpire.
19.4 Andile Phehlukwayo to James Neesham, back of a length on the fourth stump, Neesham gets inside the line and flicked it over mid-wicket for just one.
19.3 Andile Phehlukwayo to James Neesham, FOUR! Make that three in a row now. Length delivery outside the off-stump with pace, Neesham hammered it right over the umpire's head, goes one bounce int the ropes again for another boundary.
19.2 Andile Phehlukwayo to James Neesham, FOUR MORE! Back to back boundaries for Neesham. Back of a length outside the off-stump, Neesham belted it down to long-off this time, fielder comes diving around but beats him on the bounce.
19.1 Andile Phehlukwayo to James Neesham, FOUR! Slower one to begin with. Back of a length outside the off-stump, Neesham waits on the backfoot and smashes it down to long-on, goes one bounce into the ropes.
Andile Phehlukwayo (3-0-14-1) is back into the attack
Ah well. Just like that, the game's off the grasp of the Capitals. They just didn't do enough deep into the death overs - losing wickets in between. The Paarl crowd have begun their celebrations already!
19
overs
118/6score
0
0
2
0
1
0
runs
Eathan Bosch*
15(18)
Jimmy Neesham
8(13)
Lungi Ngidi
1/23
18.6 Lungi Ngidi to Eathan Bosch, back of a length, tailing back in over the off-stump. Bosch has a wild swing across the line and misses.
18.5 Lungi Ngidi to James Neesham, OH! Doesn't carry to the long-on fielder. Slower one, was on a length outside the off-stump. Neesham heaves it away, but doesn't get hold of it and gets just a single.
18.4 Lungi Ngidi to James Neesham, short delivery, dug into the track outside the off-stump. Neesham's struggle continues as he swivels to pull and misses.