Afghani mystery spinner Noor Ahmad grabbed a career-best 5-11 as Durban’s Super Giants thrashed Paarl Royals by 125 runs in their Betway SA20 match in front of 14 000 excited spectators at Kingsmead in Durban on Sunday.
The lopsided victory – with the Royals being dismissed for 83 in 13.2 overs chasing a formidable victory target of 209 – meant another bonus-point win for the Super Giants, their second in three days against the Royals, and confirmation that the home team have qualified for the playoffs with a match to spare.
The Super Giants had earlier compiled a challenging 208 for seven after winning the toss and batting first, with player of the match Matthew Breetzke (78 in 43 balls) setting up the innings for Heinrich Klaasen (50 in 17 balls) to finish off in a blaze of glory.
The Super Giants are now six points clear of the Royals at the top of the table with just one match left, in Durban on Tuesday against the Pretoria Capitals, before the playoffs begin.
Altogether, the Super Giants have won their last three matches with bonus points in a massive surge of T20 form.
Ahmad, who claimed the wicket of David Miller with his first ball and then the scalp of Andile Phehlukwayo with his second, was given good support by left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj who claimed 2-23 in his four overs.
Only Mitchell van Buuren showed up for the Royals, striking five fours in his unbeaten 36 in 27 balls. Well as he played, his main business was watching the carnage at the other end.
The Royals desperately needed a good start to their chase but when Jos Buttler was caught behind off Reece Topley for six and Jason Roy went for 14, it was always going to be tough on a spin-friendly surface that suited the home team’s highly-skilled spin pairing of Maharaj and Ahmad.
After smashing 30 in nine balls in Paarl on Friday night, the pressure to deliver was on Durban’s master striker Klaasen once again when he came in to bat with DSG’s score on 150 for four after 16.3 overs. The home team scored another 58 off the remaining 3.3 overs, with Klaasen getting 50 of them, Wiaan Mulder three, plus five extras. That gives some idea of just how Klaasen dominated the final violent throes of the innings as he sent the crowd into raptures with two fours and six sixes.
At times it was a curious innings by DSG, with a stop-start momentum around the halfway stage, with Tabraiz Shamsi bowling his first three overs for nine runs as DSG stuttered to 56 for three after nine overs following a brisk powerplay of 48.
Opener Tony de Zorzi flashed at Lungi Ngidi to be caught behind, Quinton de Kock was out in bizarre fashion, toe-ending a slog-sweep straight back to bowler Bjorn Fortuin who quietly grinned in surprise rather than celebrate his dismissal while Jon-Jon Smuts was well caught at midwicket by substitute fielder Codi Yusuf.
Things began to warm up in the 12th over when Breetzke cut loose, helping to take 23 off Andile Phehlukwayo’s only over. The opener provided the structure for the innings, hitting some extraordinary shots (5x4s and 6x6s) around the ground. Marcus Stoinis also impressed, albeit less spectacularly, hitting 38 in 36 balls, but it was the amazing Klaasen who provided the main charge of electricity at the end.
Shamsi was easily the best of the Royals’ bowlers, claiming the wickets of Breetzke and Stoinis in his final over to finish with excellent figures of 2-20 in his spell.
DURBAN'S SUPER GIANTS: Matthew Breetzke, Tony de Zorzi, Quinton de Kock (wk), JJ Smuts, Heinrich Klaasen, Marcus Stoinis, Wiaan Mulder, Keshav Maharaj (capt), Reece Topley, Noor Ahmad, Naveen-ul-Haq
PAARL ROYALS: Jos Buttler (wk), Jason Roy, Wihan Lubbe, David Miller (capt), Mitchell van Buuren, Fabian Allen, Andile Phehlukwayo, Bjorn Fortuin, Lungi Ngidi, Tabraiz Shamsi, Obed McCoy