Paarl Royals deliver at home to beat Durban’s Super Giants in SA20 clash

Spin bowler Bjorn Fortuin, seamer Evan Jones and top-order batter Wihan Lubbe led the charge as the Paarl Royals picked up a crucial win against Durban’s Super Giants in their SA20 match in Paarl on Tuesday.

Chasing 170 runs for victory, the Super Giants were up against the ropes early in their innings, with Fortuin removing Kyle Mayers (12), Quinton de Kock (0) and Dwaine Pretorius (0) within the first five overs.

The rest of the visiting team’s batting order struggled to get going, and though Heinrich Klaasen put up a fight with an unbeaten 56 off 39 (his 15th T20 half-century) he did not receive sufficient support and they were restricted to 159/8 as they were handed a 10-run defeat.

Fortuin spearheaded the Royals bowling attack, returning spectacular figures of 3/14 from his allotted four overs to earn the Player-of-the-Match award, while Jones was equally impressive, taking career-best figures of 4/32 after ripping through the Super Giants’ tail.

“I enjoy bowling with the new ball and it was nice to perform in front of my home crowd,” said Fortuin, who hails from Paarl.

Royals innings

Earlier, after being sent in to bat, the Royals did well to build some partnerships, taking control of their innings.

Though they lost opener Jason Roy in the third over, after he was removed by Hardus Viljoen for just three runs, Jos Buttler and Lubbe stabilised the innings with a 52-run stand for the second wicket.

The partnership was broken in the ninth over when Buttler was stumped by Super Giants captain Quinton de Kock, but his 35-run contribution off 27 balls played a key role in getting his side back on track.

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Lubbe went on to reach his ninth career T20 half-century, but he was eventually bowled by a superb delivery from English seamer Reece Topley, in an attempt to accelerate the run-rate with just four overs left in the innings.

The experienced batter made 57 runs off 36 deliveries, including five fours and three sixes, at a strike rate of 158.33.

David Miller then added a cameo 28 runs off 19 balls before Dwaine Pretorius had him caught by Keshav Maharaj on the boundary in the final over.Viljoen was the best of the Super Giants bowlers, picking up 2/35.

But it was not enough as the home side reached 169/6 to set up their second win from four matches in the inaugural competition, handing the Super Giants their second defeat.