Jos Buttler-starrer Paarl Royals registered its third win in an ongoing South Africa T20 League after beating table-toppers Pretoria Capitals by 6 wickets on Sunday evening. While chasing 158-6, the Royals' batters put up a collective effort in the middle to ease past the target with two balls left to bowl.
Royals' experienced wicket-keeper batter Jos Buttler played a fine inning of 37 runs before he was hunted by 24-year-old right-arm off-break Will Jacks in the 16th over of the game. While Buttler's wicket came a bit too late as the Royals already had their one foot over the line, Jacks' wicket-taking delivery became the talk of the town.
It was a flighted delivery which completely beat the experienced batter, who went for the drive and sneaked through the gap between bat and pad to hit the middle and leg stumps. It won't be wrong to say that it was an unplayable delivery which left Buttler amused.
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Talking about the match, Kusal Mendis (37 off 26) and Theunis de Bruyn (53 off 47) guided Pretoria Capitals to 158/6. For Paarl Royals, Ferisco Adams picked two wickets while the likes of Lungi Ngidi, Bjorn Fortuin, Evan Jones and Tabraiz Shamsi returned with one wicket each. In response, the Royals got a terrific start as Jason Roy (21 off 16) and Wihan Lubbe (29 off 22) added 48 runs for the first wicket.
The perfect foundation set by openers was very well capitalised by the middle order as Buttler (37), Dane Vilas (24), and David Miller (28) sealed the game for the Royals. Miller was adjudged Player of the Match for his incredible batting in the second innings.
With that win, the Royals have confirmed their third win of the season in seven games and climbed to the third spot in the points table. Royals will play its next game against Sunrisers Eastern Cape on January 24 (Tuesday) at St George's Park, Gqeberha.