By Patrick Compton.
Rilee Rossouw cracked 56 in 41 balls – his first half-century in the competition – to lift the Pretoria Capitals to a respectable 153 for eight in the first Betway SA20 semifinal against the Paarl Royals at the Wanderers in Johannesburg on Wednesday night.
Steady rain during the day meant that the game started 45 minutes late on a tacky, two-paced pitch that helped the bowlers and caused the batsmen to struggle.
Royals’ skipper David Miller made the right call to put his opponents in to bat, and left-arm spinner Bjorn Fortuin (1-24 in four overs) got turn and bounce to put the Capitals’ openers under immediate pressure.
Kusal Mendis was the first to go, lobbing a mishit drive to cover, and Phil Salt and Theunis de Bruyn were only able to collect 32/1 in the first power play – the team’s lowest in the competition, as Lungi Ngidi also proved hard to hit.
De Bruyn and Salt both went shortly afterwards, both victims of Tabraiz Shamsi, while Colin Ingram and Jimmy Neesham went cheaply to the bowling of Evan Jones and Andile Phehlukwayo respectively.
Rossouw, who has not enjoyed a successful competition, worked hard to get himself in and at last he found a partner in Eathan Bosch as the pair added 42 in 20 balls for the sixth wicket, the only really positive partnership in the innings.
The powerful left-hander hit some sensational shots, one punch off the back foot off Jones, and then a massive sweep for a huge six off the same bowler, which were the shots of the innings.
Rossouw was unable to bat through, however, sweeping Phehlukwayo to deep square leg for his 56 in 41 balls (3x6s, 5x4s), and it required some late hitting from Bosch and Adil Rashid to get the Capitals past the 150 mark.
For the Royals, Phehlukwayo was the most successful bowler with 3-29, while spinners Shamsi (2-19) and Fortuin were impressive on a pitch that helped them.
The Capitals’ total was not as big as they would have hoped for, but with their impressive attack they will hope the pitch continues to remain the bowlers’ friend.
PRETORIA CAPITALS: Philip Salt(w), Kusal Mendis, Theunis de Bruyn(c), Rilee Rossouw, Colin Ingram, James Neesham, Senuran Muthusamy, Migael Pretorius, Eathan Bosch, Adil Rashid, Anrich Nortje
PAARL ROYALS: Paul Stirling, Jason Roy, Jos Buttler(w), Dane Vilas, David Miller(c), Eoin Morgan, Evan Jones, Andile Phehlukwayo, Bjorn Fortuin, Lungi Ngidi, Tabraiz Shamsi.