Bairstow's hard fought half-century lifts Joburg Super Kings to 146

Jonny Bairstow suppressed his natural instincts to play attacking cricket from the onset, and patiently compiled an excellent half-century to lead the Joburg Super Kings to 146 for six in their Betway SA20 match against the Paarl Royals at Boland Park on Monday. The Royals need 147 runs to win.

Bairstow bludgeoned 21 runs off Kwena Maphaka's bowling in the penultimate over of the innings as he raced to a maiden SA20 half-century after a slow start.

The Englishman dragged the visitors back into the contest with a score of 60 off 40. He faced 36 deliveries to reach the milestone. It took a spectacular diving catch from David Miller to bring his outstanding knock to a close.

The half-century comes on the heels of his unbeaten 43 off 27 against MI Cape Town. Bairstow shared a 67-run sixth-wicket partnership with Donovan Ferreira that blew the match wide open.

Boland Park served a typically slow and low pitch where aggressive cricket meant taking big risks, unless the bowler erred in line and length or an edge beat the keeper. According to history, the team with the most twos wins at Boland Park. Teams get more reward from manipulating the field and hitting into gaps as opposed to primarily focusing on boundaries. The blustery conditions did not help batters.

In an uncharacteristic approach to Bairstow's style in the format, the Englishman faced 27 deliveries before he scored a boundary. Bairstow got to the crease in the fifth over and toiled until the 16th over before Dayyaan Galiem sent down a delivery that he lap-scooped for a four.

However, Ferreira faced no such problems. The 26-year-old smashed back-to-back boundaries shortly after he got to the crease. He smashed three boundaries for his unbeaten 32 off 19.

Bjorn Fortuin has made a name for himself as a powerplay spinner in the format. The left-arm tweaker has backed that claim to fame by being the most prolific bowler in the first six overs. The 30-year-old opened the bowling for the home side and did not take long before he added another trophy to his wall of conquests. He delivered the first wicket in the second over, bamboozling Devon Conway to take his tally to 17 powerplay wickets across three seasons.

However, Fortuin wasn't done, as far as powerplay wickets go. His deliveries generally target the stumps and his 13th delivery of the match to Faf du Plessis was no different. The Super Kings skipper tried to heave the ball over mid-on, but got an outside edge instead, to gift Mujeeb ur Rahman an easy catch for wicket number 18. The latter created more trouble for the visitors with the third wicket of the innings with the next delivery.

The Royals delivered 15 overs of spin when they went up against MI Cape Town at Boland Park. The ploy worked well and they adopted the approach against the visitors. The home side bowled a single over of pace in the first half of the innings.

Miller tossed the ball to Joe Root in the seventh over and the England star delivered immediately by dismissing his countryman, Moeen Ali. It was an ignoble start with the bat for Ali, who is playing his second match for the Super Kings this season. It was his first time with the bat for his side.

Bairstow combined with Sibonelo Makhanya to arrest the fall of wickets with a steady 36-run fifth-wicket partnership. It collapsed after Makhanya was run out taking a tight single.

Fortuin was Paarl Royals' most successful bowler with two wickets for 22 runs in four overs. Root, Mujeeb ur Rahman and Galiem took a wicket each.

PAARL ROYALS: Joe Root, Lhuan-dre Pretorius, Rubin Hermann, David Miller (capt), Mitchell Van Buuren, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Dunith Wellalage, Dayyaan Galiem, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Bjorn Fortuin, Kwena Maphaka.

JOBURG SUPER KINGS: Faf du Plessis (capt), Devon Conway, Leus du Plooy, Johnny Bairstow (wk), Moeen Ali, Donovan Ferreira, Sibonelo Makhanya, Imran Tahir, Tabraiz Shamsi, Hardus Viljoen, Lutho Sipamla.