Pretoria Capitals and Paarl Royals clashed against each other in the last game of the league phase of the SA20 League on Tuesday, February 7 at SuperSport Park in Centurion. It was a dead rubber for the Capitals as they were already the table toppers and qualified for the playoffs. The Royals opted to bowl first after winning the toss.
Meanwhile, during the first innings, the former England captain Eoin Morgan, who is currently playing for the Royals displayed a brilliant piece of fielding as he took a fantastic catch at short third man when Capitals’ skipper Theunis de Bruyn slashed a short ball and Morgan threw himself onto the ball without any second thought, he managed to hold onto a special catch at the edge of the 30-yard circle.
Watch the video here:
Eoin Morgan, still got it 🛫 pic.twitter.com/C2zKS4aG6E
— Will Macpherson (@willis_macp) February 7, 2023
A brilliant all-round performance by the Capitals
Talking about the match, asked to bat first, the Capitals started really well as the openers Phil Salt and Kusal Mendis got the team off to a flier and put up a 69-run stand for the first wicket in just 5.2 overs. Salt departed after scoring 39 runs off 21 balls which included 3 fours and 3 sixes. Mendis carried on and smashed 80 runs off just 41 deliveries which included 8 fours and 4 sixes.
In the end, Colin Ingram and James Neesham provided the final touch and helped the team to achieve a massive total of 226 runs in 20 overs. Lungi Ngidi was the best bowler from the Royals’ team as he picked up 2 wickets but conceded 39 runs in his 4 overs quota. All bowlers went pretty expensive and had no reply to the batters.
The Royals needed 163 to make it to the next round but they started off on a poor note as they lost their first 3 batters on the score of just 38 runs. Jos Buttler scored 70 runs off 45 balls but he looked off-color, he smashed 4 fours and 5 sixes. However, his inning helped the team to get past 163. Morgan also played a small cameo of 12-ball 28. But they bundled out on 167 runs in 20 overs after losing 9 wickets. Neesham picked up 3 wickets in the 2 overs he bowled. Both teams will face each other again in semi-final 1.
