Paarl Royals
Paarl Royals made SA20 history at Newlands on Sunday when they beat coastal rivals MI Cape Town for the first time at Newlands. After three previous defeats under the watch of Table Mountain, the Royals completed a Season 4 Western Cape derby double with a comprehensive seven-wicket bonus point victory.
The Royals have now leapfrogged Sunrisers Eastern Cape into second place on 13 points - just two points adrift of table-toppers Joburg Super Kings.
Zimbabwe international Sikander Raza has proved to be a revelation since his arrival in the Royals camp with another stirring performance with the ball. Raza followed up his 3/27 on his Royals debut last Friday with a match-winning 4/13 from his four overs.
The off-spinner was ably supported by 19-year-old rookie Nqobani Mokoena (2/10) and the experienced Ottneil Baartman (2/8) as MI Cape Town crumbled to 88 all out - their lowest score in the history of the competition.
The four Player of the Match candidates were Ottneil Baartman, Nqobani Mokoena, Sikandar Raza, Asa Tribe with Raza winning 75.2% of the fan vote.
Royals lost Lhuan-dre Pretorius early in the chase to Trent Boult, but a solid 54-run partnership between Asa Tribe and Rubin Hermann for the second wicket set the visitors on the path to victory.
Although both Hermann (18, 2x4) and Tribe (34, 3x4, 2x6) fell before the finish line was crossed, there would be no further setbacks with Kyle Verreynne (10 not out, 1x4) and his captain David Miller (19 not out, 2x4, 1x6) sealing the bonus point victory and Cape bragging rights for the boys in pink.
