Root picked up two wickets with the ball. © Sportzpics Led by Joe Root’s all-round performance (56-ball 78* & 2-32), Paarl Royals secured an 11-run win over Pretoria Capitals and extended their lead at the top of the SA20 points table. Put in to bat, Royals lost Lhuan Dre-Pretorius for a third-ball duck in the opening over. Rubin Hermann and Mitchell Van Buurren also departed cheaply, but Root struck a few boundaries to keep Royals’ charge going. He was offered a life by James Neesham when he was batting on 13, and he took good advantage of it. On a surface where run-scoring was difficult, he continued to expertly use his skill against spin. Dunith Wellalage also struggled to get the big hits going, but in the company of Root, added 40 runs in 44 balls for the fourth wicket. It was David Miller’s arrival at the crease which allowed for some late momentum. Four sixes were hit in the last five overs which propelled Royals to 140 for 4 – a match winning total in the end. Root was dropped again in the last over, but that didn’t prove too costly. In the run chase, Will Jacks kept running out of partners, losing three of them within the powerplay. However, in the company of Kyle Verreynne, he steadied the chase with a 77-run stand. But the inability to keep up with the scoring rate meant that they were left chasing 40 runs in the last 20 balls. Attempts to hit the big shots in the end proved futile as they only lost wickets in the process. Root, Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Bjorn Fortuin bagged a brace each, with the latter two along with Wellalage proving especially stingy. Royals used spinners throughout their innings – a first in the history of franchise T20 cricket. Brief Scores: Paarl Royals 140/4 in 20 overs (Joe Root 78*, David Miller 29*) beat Pretoria Capitals 129/7 in 20 overs (Will Jacks 56, Kyle Verreynne 30; Mujeeb ur Rahman 2-17, Bjorn Fortuin 2-20) by 11 runs
