1st Semi-Final, SA20 2023: Pretoria Capitals beat Paarl Royals by 29 runs to secure place in Final

Pretoria Capitals beat Paarl Royals by 29 runs to secure a place in the SA20 2023 Final, at The Wanderers, Joburg today.

Match Summary

Pretoria Capitals vs Paarl Royals, 1st Semi-Final, SA20

Pretoria Capitals 153/8 (20 ov)

Paarl Royals 124/10 (19 ov)

Result - Pretoria Capitals won by 29 runs

SCORECARD

A half-century and a crucial wicket from his solitary over! That's why Rilee Rossouw is your Player of the Match ??#Betway #SA20 @Betway_India pic.twitter.com/bz0UX8jCMu

— Betway SA20 (@SA20_League) February 8, 2023

Highlights

After winning the toss Paarl Royals put Capitals in to bat, Philip Salt (22) taking full advantage as he got off the mark.

Rilee Rossouw (56*) joined later in the innings to add an important knock, smashing 3 Sixes along the way.

Some momentum then swung back in Royals favour, via the hands of Andile Phehlukwayo (3/29) with some crucial wickets.

The innings came to a close at 153, and it was no over to the Paarl Royals batsmen to chase this one down.

Paarl Royals struggled from the start in the run chase, losing both Jason Roy and Jos Buttler early on and were evetually all out for 124.

Player of the Match - Rilee Rossouw 

Match Analysis

The Pretoria Capitals became the first team in history to advance to the inaugural Betway SA20 Final with Rilee Rossouw and Eathan Bosch playing starring roles in a tense 29-run victory in the first semi-final against the Paarl Royals at the Wanderers.  

Rossouw held the Capitals’ innings together with 56 off 41 balls as the table-toppers posted a competitive 153/8 after being inserted by the Royals.  

It was a surface that was not conducive to fluent strokeplay and Rossouw had to restrain his natural attacking game after the Royals spinners Bjorn Fortuin (1/24) and Tabraiz Shamsi (2/19) had started well.  

Royals all-rounder Andile Phehlukwayo (3/29) maintained the pressure during the middle period, but Rossouw kept the scoreboard ticking over with a few timely boundaries.  

At the interval the match was evenly-poised before opening bowler Bosch provided the Capitals with the perfect start.  

Bosch (2/22) struck with the second delivery of the Royals innings when he removed England opener Jason Roy. But then Bosch delivered arguably the moment of the match when he clean bowled the in-form Jos Buttler (13) in his next over.  

The Royals were 13/2 and faced an uphill battle from hereon. The challenge became even steeper when Rossouw utilised his golden arm to have Eoin Morgan (17) caught on the cover boundary.  

The Boland Park-based side had one last hope though in the form of their skipper David Miller. While Miller was at the crease anything remained possible, especially when the equation was reduced to 30 runs off the final 12 balls with two wickets remaining.  

However, the return of Anrich Nortje to the attack in the penultimate over saw to the demise of Miller (31) who was caught on the square-leg boundary before the tournament’s leading wicket-taker closed out the match when Colin Ingram claimed a brilliant catch off Shamsi to set off the Capitals’ celebrations.  

The Capitals now wait for the winner of the second semi-final between Joburg Super Kings and Sunrisers Eastern Cape at Centurion on Thursday to see who they will face in Saturday’s showpiece at the Wanderers.  

Match Stats

Pretoria Capitals Fall of wickets: 1-19 (Kusal Mendis - 3.3 ov), 2-37 (Theunis de Bruyn - 6.5 ov), 3-51 (Philip Salt - 8.2 ov), 4-84 (Colin Ingram - 13.2 ov), 5-91 (Jimmy Neesham - 14.5 ov), 6-133 (Rilee Rossouw - 18.1 ov), 7-144 (Eathan Bosch - 18.6 ov), 8-144 (Migael Pretorius - 19.2 ov)

 

Paarl Royals Fall of wickets: 1-0 (Jason Roy - 0.2 ov), 2-16 (Jos Buttler - 2.1 ov), 3-49 (Paul Stirling - 6.3 ov), 4-64 (Dane Vilas - 8.4 ov), 5-83 (Eoin Morgan - 11.2 ov), 6-90 (Evan Jones - 13.1 ov), 7-109 (Andile Phehlukwayo - 16.2 ov), 8-124 (Bjorn Fortuin - 17.5 ov), 9-124 (David Miller - 18.3 ov), 10-124 (Tabraiz Shamsi - 18.6 ov)

Playing XIs

Pretoria Capitals: Philip Salt, Kusal Mendis(WK), Theunis de Bruyn(C), Rilee Rossouw, Colin Ingram, Jimmy Neesham, Senuran Muthusamy, Migael Pretorius, Eathan Bosch, Anrich Nortje, Adil Rashid

Paarl Royals: Paul Stirling, Jason Roy, Jos Buttler(WK), Dane Vilas, Eoin Morgan, David Miller(C), Andile Phehlukwayo, Evan Jones, Bjorn Fortuin, Tabraiz Shamsi, Lungi Ngidi

 

Match Details:

Date: Wednesday, February 8, 2023 15:30

Venue: The Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg

Toss: Paarl Royals won the toss & elected to field