SA20 League: Kusal Mendis displayed “victorious hammering” in League game between PC and DSG

SA20 League: A thumping display from Pretoria, powered by some stunning hitting from Mendis, Salt, Neesham and Ingram, who seemed to be playing on a different surface.

In reply, Jos Buttler’s innings looked imposing in the final analysis, but his 70 from 45 was an unusually sketchy affair by his standards, and he lacked any meaningful support in the tense latter stages of the chase.

The Paarl Royals may have lost by 59 runs to the Pretoria Capitals in the last round-robin match of the Betway SA20, but they did just enough to sneak into the semi-finals. They’ll have a re-match against the Pretoria Capitals at Wanderers for a spot in the finals today (February 8).

High scoring encounter between Pretoria and Durban

The Royals were playing a game within a game after the Capitals posted a mammoth 229/5 in their allotted 20 overs. While Kusal Mendis’ sensational 80 off 41 powered the PC, with 80 off 41 balls. Colin Ingram (41) and Phil Salt (39) also made worthwhile contributions.

The Paarl-based side’s secondary target was 163 in order to edge out Durban’s Super Giants for the last remaining semi-final spot.

The Super Giants’ hopes were rising when the Royals were reduced to 38/3 in the Powerplay and then a further 101/5 in the 14th over when captain David Miller walked back to the pavilion with seemingly his team’s hopes of progressing with him.

However, the Royals still had Jos Buttler at the crease and England’s limited-overs captain delivered a superb 70 off 45 balls (4×4, 5×6) to take his team to the brink of qualification.

Ten runs were still required off eight balls when Buttler departed though and it was left to Bjorn Fortuin to get the Royals into the semi-finals with a vitally important eight runs off eight deliveries.

Kusal Mendis, Player Of The Match: 

Sri Lankan international Kusal Mendis was the mainstay of the Capitals innings with 80 off 41 balls. Mendis hammered 8 boundaries and 4 maximums in his innings of 80 at a highly impressive strike rate of 195.

Very happy to contribute, me and Salt started well in the first 6 overs, I think we batted really well. Everyone looked into scoring runs, that’s why we were able to put up 220. The team is gelling very much together, we know how each other play, and are looking forward to tomorrow’s game. 

The tournament has now reached into the final four. Capitals vs Royals, and JSK vs Sunrisers, for a place in the inaugural SA20 League final.

Also read: Will Jacks sets SA20 on fire, smashes a 19-ball 50 VS MI Cape Town

Thank you for reading.