On a tough Paarl track, Joe Root once again showed his class. © BCCI/IPL “Hot Hot Hot…” Arrow’s 1982 soca hit belted around Boland Park more than a few times on Saturday. And well it might have: it was 37 degrees Celsius. In Sheffield on Saturday, it was four degrees Celsius. As random as those 33 degrees of difference seem, they aren’t. Joe Root, whose 56-ball 78 not out took him to the top of the SA20 runscorers’ list, is among Sheffield’s most favourite sons. Root’s third half-century of the tournament – more than any other player – powered Paarl Royals past Pretoria Capitals by 11 runs. With that, Paarl became the first team to reach the playoffs. That is nothing new for them. Last year they reached the eliminator, and Joburg Super Kings hammered them by nine wickets with 40 balls remaining. In 2023 Pretoria Capitals won their semifinal against Paarl by 29 runs. But Paarl didn’t have Root before this year’s competition. Few teams anywhere have. His international commitments have meant this is only his fourth franchise T20 tournament outside England in a career in the format that started in June 2011. To that rarity add this: the all-spin attack Paarl deployed on Saturday marked the first time in any senior men’s T20 cricket outside of Asia and the first time in the men’s franchise version anywhere that all 20 overs of the innings have been sent down by slow bowlers. Paarl’s famous five were Bjorn Fortuin, Dunith Wellalage, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Nqaba Peter, and Root. Dayyaan Galiem was the only seamer selected, and he didn’t bowl on the slowest surface seen in the competition this year. To assign Lungi Ngidi, Kwena Maphaka, Andile Phehlukwayo, Codi Yusuf or Keith Dudgeon – the other seamers in Paarl’s squad – to bend their backs in the heat on that pitch would have been a reckless waste of resources. “When we saw their lineup, we were like, where are all the seamers,” Rilee Rossouw told a press conference. “It’s something we are not so accustomed to, especially in South Africa.” Root’s side-arm off-spin dismissed Will Jacks and James Neesham on Saturday, and has made him the tournament’s joint 12th-highest wicket-taker and puts him in eighth place on the list of economy rates. Not bad for a part-timer. But wait. There’s more. As Trevor Penney explained, while sounding as impressed with Yorkshire’s finest as everyone else: “Root, he brings a lot, hey? He’s always with the youngsters, always helping them. He’s just an amazing human being. Whatever he does on the field, he’s better off the field. He’s like another assistant coach.” While Root was batting on Saturday, “he sent messages back to us saying, ‘It’s this type of pitch; don’t try too much. Let’s have wickets in hand to the end, and then we can see what we can do’”. Paarl scored 140/4. Only in Pretoria’s three-run win over Sunrisers Eastern Cape in Centurion exactly a year ago – when the home side made 125 – has a lower total been successfully defended. Doing so took gumption. Like Root showed while bowling the 18th over, when Pretoria needed 33 off 17. Neesham drove hard and straight, and Root threw his 34-year-old body lengthwise across the pitch to smother what would otherwise have been four. Neesham, trying to target the shorter on-side boundary, charged the next delivery. Root saw him coming, and pitched the ball short. It skidded through to Dinesh Karthik, who had by then conceded four byes twice. But he had his wits about him that time, and the bails were off long before Neesham could regain his ground. So it will be with heavy hearts that Paarl bid Root farewell after their game against Joburg Super Kings at the Wanderers on Thursday: England expect him in India. Paarl will go to the playoffs without him. “That will be a big loss,” Penney said. “But we’ve got guys like Sam Hain, and we’re looking elsewhere to see if we can get a replacement. Hopefully when Rooty goes someone can jump in and take over from him.” Joe Root, he brings a lot, hey? And he will take a lot with him
