Joburg Super Kings: 146/6
Jonny Bairstow 60; Bjorn Fortuin 2/22
Paarl Royals: 150/6
Mitchell van Buuren 44; Hardus Viljoen 2/23
Paarl Royals won by six wickets
PAARL Royals remained undefeated at home in Boland Park following a six-wicket victory over Joburg Super Kings on Monday night, propelling them to the top of the standings with an 80% win record.
At home, the Royals have been simply outstanding this season. Monday night, they were equally impressive against a wounded Super Kings side.
Right from the playing XI that they selected, one that was carefully curated for the dry and slow wicket at Boland Park, to the execution of their plans, the Royals were simply too good for the Super Kings.
Given the slow and dry nature of the wicket, coach Shane Bond and captain David Miller opted for three out-and-out spinners in Bjorn Fortuin, Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Dunith Wellalage alongside part-time spinner in Joe Root to ensure they could bowl 16 overs of spin in what was a spin-friendly wicket.
When Miller called correctly at the toss, the 35-year-old did not hesitate to bowl first, a decision motivated by their unrivalled ability to chase down totals with ease home and away.
They put their supreme chasing skills on display once again on Monday night, chasing 147 with five balls to spare as Mitchell van Buuren (44, 2x4) and Miller (40*, 3x4, 1x6) put together a 71 runs partnership to help the Royals secure a fourth victory in five matches thus far.
The Super Kings made the right selections as well.
However, despite the conditions, the Super Kings spinners Imran Tahir (1/22), Donovan Ferreira (1/16), Moeen Ali (0/33) and Tabraiz Shamsi (0/20) just could not replicate the level of accuracy and skill that the home team’s quartet managed earlier in the day.
Led by Fortuin with the new ball who persisted with the stump-to-stump line, the Royals spinners made early inroads on the visiting batting order with Fortuin bowling Devon Conway (7) out in the third over.
The left-arm orthodox accounted for Faf du Plessis (18) in his very next over, handing the hosts a massive advantage given the impressive form that the two Super Kings openning batters have shown this season.
The four spinners bowled a combined 37 dot balls as they squeezed the life out of the Super Kings batting innings, restricting them to 146/6 with Jonny Bairstow top-scoring with an impressive 60 off 40.
Ur Rahman returned 1/28 while Root returned 1/16 as the Royals dominated the proceedings.