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Brilliant Pretorius helps Royals beat MICT in rematch

football15 January 2025 19:13| © MWP
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Lhuan-dre Pretorius continued the remarkable start to his SA20 career with an innings of 83 from just 52 balls which led the Paarl Royals to an impressive six-wicket victory in their SA20 match against Cape rivals MI Cape Town at Boland Park in Paarl on Wednesday evening.

Responding to MI Cape Town’s 158-4 Pretorius lashed eight fours and three sixes to make light work of a target of 159 for victory while every other batter struggled for boundaries on another typically slow, awkward batting pitch.

Joe Root made a run-a-ball 15, Mitchell van Buuren 22 from 20 and captain David Miller finished the game with 24* from 20 balls but they were all unashamedly overshadowed by Pretorius.

Rassie van der Dussen’s magnificent 91 not out almost single-handedly pushed the MI Cape Town total to 158-4 after being asked to bat first and they would have been distinctly competitive without the precocious talent of 18-year-old Pretorius.

Two direct-hit run outs from Rashid Khan and Connor Esterhuizen accounted for Pretorius and Dinesh Karthik (10) but the victory was emphatic enough to retain all of its gloss.

Earlier van der Dussen was measured and composed for the majority of his innings, content to score at a little over a run-a-ball until the 19th over of the innings when he exploded with a brace of fours and sixes against Kwena Maphaka to take 20 runs from the over and transform the total from ‘par’ to ‘challenging.’

Van der Dussen struck five fours and five sixes in the 64 balls he faced having laid a patient platform for his late assault but it always seemed likely that his teammates’ similarly cautious, initial approach may have left the visitors a dozen runs short.

Afghan opener Azmatullah Omarzai (13) thick edged seamer Dayyaan Galiem to ‘keeper Karthik who dived to take a fine one-handed catch but Van der Dussen added 59 with Reeza Hendricks (30) to steady the innings before Afghan mystery spinner Mujeeb-ur-Rahman hit the top of Hendricks’s off stump with dazzling carrom ball.

Left-hander George Linde’s promotion to No 4 failed to pay dividends when he missed a slog-sweep against Joe Root’s off-spin and was bowled for 10 from as many balls.

Dewald Brevis, who batted at No 7 in the first derby at Newlands on Monday, appeared at No 5 but quickly disappeared for eight when Mujeeb’s carrom ball once again located the stumps.

Twenty-two-year-old Sri Lanka left-arm spinner Dunith Wellalage was outstanding on his Royals debut with 4-0-17-0, but Mujeeb was the pick of the attack with 2-27 from his four overs.

The fixture was a ‘rematch’ of the first Cape derby on Monday which MICT won by 33 runs at Newlands.

PAARL ROYALS: Lhuan-dre Pretorius, Joe Root, Mitchell Van Buuren, David Miller (captain), Dinesh Karthik (wkt), Dunith Wellalage, Dayyaan Galiem, Andile Phehlukwayo, Bjorn Fortuin, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Kwena Maphaka

MI CAPE TOWN: Rassie van der Dussen, Connor Esterhuizen (wkt), Reeza Hendricks, Colin Ingram, George Linde, Delano Potgieter, Dewald Brevis, Azmatullah Omarzai, Rashid Khan (captain), Kagiso Rabada, Trent Boult

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