SA20 league: Phil Salt’s 77 off 47 help Pretoria Capitals beat Sunrisers Eastern Cape to register first win of season

After being called into bat first by Sunrisers Eastern Cape, the Pretoria Capitals started on a decent note. Opener Phil Salt led the attack to the bowlers and scored a brilliant half century which  kept the runs coming from one end.

His unbeaten innings of 77 runs from 47 balls included 11 fours at a strike rate of 163. The English International was in complete control of his innings. However, the Sunrisers managed to keep picking wickets from the other hand. They reduced the Capitals to 80/5 at one stage and looked to wrap things up quickly.

Salt and Neesham take Pretoria to commendable total

But much to the delight of Capitals, Salt found company in Jimmy Neesham who played a handy knock of 37 runs from 28 balls with 4 fours and a six. The duo added 77 runs for the sixth wicket which brought recovery to the Capitals innings.

Captain Wayne Parnell provided the cherry on top with a quick-fire cameo of 29 runs from 9 balls. These lower order contributions powered Pretoria Capitals to a highly competitive score of 193/6.

Smut’s effort for Sunrisers went in Vain

In reply, the Sunrisers Eastern Cape fought hard but failed to notch up a big partnership. JJ Smuts seemed like a lone warrior and ran out of partners. He played a good innings of 66 runs with 6 fours and 4 sixes but failed the other batsmen failed to occupy the crease for a longer period with Smuts.

Tristan Stubbs looked promising in his stay of 23 runs but Anrich Nortje dismissed him to get the price wicket for his team.

Nortje was brilliant with the ball. He finished with handy figures of 2/18 from four overs and was well supported by the other bowlers. However, Tom Abell and James Fuller did put up a show for Sunrisers with brisk unbeaten innings of 40 and 27 but at the end was not enough.

They fell short by 23 runs in their opening encounter. It was mainly due to the clinical bowling from the Capitals. They did not allow Sunrisers to get away with the chase. Phil Salt was declared the man of the match for his match winning 77 unbeaten runs.

Despite rain affecting the match, the spectators got a full match at their hands. As every day passes, the SA20 league is becoming more and more promising.