Brief scores: Paarl Royals 169/6, 20 overs (Wihan Lubbe - 57, Dwaine Pretorious - 2/35) beat Durban's Super Giants 159/8, 20 overs (Heinrich Klaasen - 56*, Evan Jones - 4/32) by 10 runs.

Wihan Lubbe's sensational half-century, coupled with another bowling masterclass from Bjorn Fortuin and Evan Jones helped Paarl Royals register a 10-wicket win against Durban's Super Giants on Tuesday. Having faced defeat against the same opponent in their last game, the Royals bounced back to give their home crowd in Paarl a winning performance. 

Lubbe puts on a show

Earlier, David Miller lost yet another toss as Quinton de Kock put the hosts in to bat first. The Royals started slowly, losing opener Jason Roy inside the Powerplay. But they soon built the momentum, with Jos Buttler and Wihan Lubbe stitching a 53-run partnership for the 2nd wicket. Lubbe in particular went all guns blazing to bring up his first fifty of the tournament, while Buttler played the supporting role to perfection.

Buttler was stumped by Keshav Maharaj for a 27-ball 35, but Lubbe continued to keep the runs flowing with boundaries at regular intervals. In the 11th over, Maharaj came back and almost got the in-form Lubbe, but the batter was reprieved by DRS and went on to play till the 16th over. Skipper Miller then got into the act at the death, with his 19-ball 28 cameo taking the Royals to a challenging total of 169 on a pitch that looked difficult to bat on. 

Fortuin-Jones continue to trouble

Chasing a stiff 170, the Super Giants got into early trouble, losing three of their top four batters inside the first six overs. Continuing his impressive Powerplay performance, Bjorn Fortuin got the first breakthrough, a classic caught and bowled dismissal to remove Kyle Mayers. He then cleaned up Quinton (0 off 2) and Dwaine Pretorious for a first-ball duck in consecutive deliveries to derail the side further. 

The Super Giants had lost half their side by the 11th over, with Jason Holder falling to Evan Jones, pushing them further on the back foot. Heinrich Klaasen stood tall at one end with his unbeaten 56, but was robbed of any support at the other end, as he kept losing partners after some mini partnerships. Jones went on a wicket-taking spree in the lower middle order to pocket 4 wickets and finish with his career-best T20 figures, as the visitors fell short by 10 runs.

MILESTONE ALERT!

  • Jos Buttler completed 9000 runs in T20 cricket
  • With 9 wickets so far, Evan Jones is the leading wicket-taker of SA20
  • Evan Jones' 4/32 in this match are his best bowling figures of T20 cricket