Paarl Royals qualified for the semifinals of the inaugural SA20 competition last night. The Royals suffered a big defeat against the Pretoria Capitals, but they sneaked into the Top 4 of their superior net run rate.
Pretoria Capitals, Joburg Super Kings and SunRisers Eastern Cape had already qualified for the SA20 semifinals before the final league stage match happened. Paarl Royals and Durban’s Super Giants were in the race to grab the fourth spot, while MI Cape Town had no chance.
The equation, heading into the final match between Pretoria Capitals and the Royals was that the Royals had to avoid losing by a big margin. Their bowlers had a tough night in the office though, as a 41-ball 80 from Kusal Mendis guided the Pretoria Capitals to a grand total of 226/5 in their 20 overs.
Buttler serves another 🔝 knock to reach his 4th half-century of #SA20 in style!#PCvPR #SA20onJioCinema #SA20onSports18 | @josbuttler @paarlroyals pic.twitter.com/K2lSgGBRfW
— JioCinema (@JioCinema) February 7, 2023
According to the net run rate calculations, Paarl had to score 163 runs to qualify for the semifinals. Paarl’s batters could not get going as the team slumped to 115/7 at 15.5 overs. Jos Buttler fought like a lone warrior and scored 70 runs off 45 balls.
Paarl Royals almost suffered an early exit from SA20
The Royals landed in deep trouble when Jimmy Neesham scalped Buttler’s wicket in the 19th over. The team’s score was 153, and they still needed 10 runs. Codi Yusuf took a single, and then Bjorn Fortuin hit a four, bringing the equation down to five runs off six balls.
Adil Rashid bowled the last over. Luckily for Paarl, wicket-keeper Phil Salt failed to collect the second ball and gave away four byes. They qualified for semis because of that, and here is how the dugout reacted:
PAARL ROYALS QUALIFY FOR THE SEMI-FINAL 🔥 pic.twitter.com/X2EAqTLngL
— JioCinema (@JioCinema) February 7, 2023
“We got ourselves into a sticky situation, we have qualified which is very important. Look I think they batted very well but there were areas where we bowled pretty poorly,” Royals captain David Miller said after the match. Paarl will play against Pretoria again tonight in the 1st semifinal.
