SA20: Sherfane Rutherford Shines Again As Pretoria Capitals Edge Paarl Royals

Pretoria Capitals rallied on the back of some outstanding bowling to defend their below-par total and pull off a Betway SA20 heist against Paarl Royals at a steaming Boland Park. Capitals' 138/9 looked about 20 runs short on Saturday afternoon, with temperatures hovering close to 40 degrees Celsius, but Lungi Ngidi (1/35), Lizaad Williams (1/21), Gideon Peters (1/11), and Keshav Maharaj (2/14) all contributed with the ball to restrict the Royals to 117/6, earning a 21-run victory.

On a sluggish surface that assisted both bowling units throughout, the contest was ultimately decided by the battle of the two big-hitting southpaws, Sherfane Rutherford and David Miller.

Rutherford has been excellent throughout the competition for the Capitals, and once again took responsibility upon his shoulders to push his team up to a competitive total.

With only Shai Hope contributing 22 off 21 balls up front, Rutherford was content to bide his time initially before exploding at the death with two sixes off Hardus Viljoen's last over to finish unbeaten on 42 off 35 balls (3x4, 3x6).

The Royals' chase was pegged back immediately when Ngidi picked up Lhuan-dré Pretorius with the second ball of the innings. This left the door ajar for the Capitals to chip away before Rubin Hermann tried to consolidate the home team's chase by forming partnerships with Asa Tribe and Miller.

But Hermann's dismissal for 35 off 37 balls left the Royals at 67/4, still needing 72 off 47 balls.

The four Player of the Match candidates were Rubin Hermann, Dan Lawrence, Sikandar Raza, and Sherfane Rutherford, with the West Indian winning 60.6% of the fan vote.

The onus was now on Miller to lead from the front and match Rutherford's earlier big-hitting heroics, and he looked to be turning the game in the Royals' favour with successive sixes off Lungi Ngidi in the 16th over.

Although he smashed one further maximum off Williams, the run rate was still escalating due to his partner Delano Potgieter's timing deserting him at this crucial juncture, as the Royals were left needing a virtually impossible 30 runs off the final over.

Miller (45, 36b, 4x6) perished in the process, falling to Williams' first ball, and with it went any chance of an improbable Royals victory.

The Capitals are now level with the Royals on 15 points, but the Centurion side is placed higher in third position due to their superior Net Run Rate of 0.016. The Royals have played one game fewer and have an NRR of -1.075