Match at a Glimpse:
Pretoria was buzzing after back-to-back wins against the Sunrisers Eastern Cape and a win in our first home match. Will Jacks stole the show with a match-winning knock of 92, guiding us to a mammoth total of 216/6. Meanwhile, Wayne Parnell and Adil Rashid outclassed the visitors with their bowling, restricting them to 179/7 and securing a 37-run victory.
Will-come to Pretoria:
In our first home match of the season, we were put in to bat first against Sunrisers Eastern Cape. We walked into the match with hopes of securing back-to-back wins over the team from Gqeberha with Migael Pretorius replacing Senuran Muthusamy as our only change.
Despite losing Phil Salt early, Will Jacks took matters into his own hands to keep the scoreboard ticking. The Englishman put on a show right from the start, smashing three boundaries in the first over.
Rilee Rossouw displayed some fine power-hitting before falling to a full-length delivery by Brydon Carse after hitting him for two consecutive boundaries. Owing to Will Jacks’ exploits, we ended the powerplay at 60/2.
A Partnership for the Ages:
With Will Jacks taking the game by storm, local boy Theunis De Bruyn displayed his hard-hitting abilities. The two of them made the most out of Centurion’s high-scoring reputation, en route to a partnership of 111 runs which got us into the driver’s seat.
De Bruyn missed out on a well-deserved half-century after Sisanda Magala dismissed him for 42. Will Jacks continued to enthral the Pretoria crowd marching towards an entertaining 92 off 46, hitting 7 fours and 8 sixes along the way. Unfortunately, he fell short of the first century in SA20 history after he was dismissed by Marco Jansen.
Despite Ottniel Baartman accounting for Jimmy Neesham and Wayne Parnell in successive deliveries, Migael Pretorius and Shane Dadswell’s impactful cameos ensured that we ended our innings at 216/6.
Starting the SIUU-lebration Early:
Courtesy of our impeccable batting display, the Sunrisers Eastern Cape had a tough chase to conquer. After some early hits, Captain Parnell came into the attack to dismiss Sarel Erwee and Jordan Cox in back-to-back deliveries, completing 250 T20 wickets.
In response to the early setbacks, Sunrisers skipper Aiden Markram threatened with his famous aggressive batting. Nevertheless, we restricted the visitors to 50/2 after the powerplay.
Wickets Galore at Centurion:
Aiden Markram and JJ Smuts were at the helm of the chase for Sunrisers Eastern Cape building on a strong partnership of 67 runs. Jimmy Neesham came into the attack for us and ensured a breakthrough taking the crucial wicket of JJ Smuts off his first delivery.
The massive wicket of the Sunrisers’ captain was taken by Eathan Bosch after a nervous juggling catch by Migael Pretorius. Anrich Nortje did what he does best - rattling the off stump, and sending back Marques Ackermann.
Before Tristan Stubbs could get to business, our spin wizard Adil Rashid cleaned him up with a full delivery. The World Cup winner got his second of the evening by taking out James Fuller before he could go big. However, Marco Jansen brought in some late fireworks that got the Sunrisers closer to the total.
First Win at Home - Secured:
We showed up in all departments at our first home game to restrict Sunrisers Eastern Cape to 179/7 in their 20 overs.
Driving confidence from this fine form, we head to Johannesburg next for the much-awaited Highveld Derby against the Super Kings.
Brief Scores: Pretoria Capitals: 216/6 (20), Jacks - 92 (46), de Bruyn - 42 (23), Magala - 2/28, Bartman 2/42 defeated Sunrisers Eastern Cape: 179/7 (20), Markram - 46 (29), M Jansen - 36 (20), Parnell - 2/20, Rashid - 2/46.
Player of the Match: Will Jacks
