Paarl Royals spinner Bjorn Fortuin rips through Durban’s Super Giants
FORTUIN SPINS PAARL ROYALS TO VICTORY OVER DURBAN’S SUPER GIANTS
Paarl Royals spinner Bjorn Fortuin ripped through Durban’s Super Giants‘ top order to set the home side on their way to claiming a 10-run victory at Boland Park on Tuesday.
Fortuin returned figures of 3/14, claiming the wickets of Kyle Mayers (12 off 11), Quinton de Kock (0 off 2 balls), and Dwaine Pretorius (0 off 1 ball) to leave the visitors struggling on 29/3 after 4.3 overs.
Wickets continued to fall just as it seemed the Super Giants were getting themselves back into the game, which stifled their momentum to leave them on 68/4 at the halfway mark.
Heinrich Klaasen (56* off 39 balls) combined with Keshav Maharaj (17 off 10 balls) for a quick-fire 26-run partnership to get the Super Giants back in the contest.
Evan Jones (4/32) came up trumps in the 18th over, removing Maharaj and Hardus Viljoen in successive deliveries to leave the Super Giants needing 33 runs off the final 12 balls.
Jones, needing to defend 19 runs off the final over, conceded just eight to secure a second victory at home.
In the first innings, the visitors made an early breakthrough when Jason Roy (3) was dismissed by Hardus Viljoen (1/30) but a 53-run second-wicket partnership between top-scorer Wihan Lubbe (57 off 36) and Jos Buttler (35 off 27) got the innings back on track.
Once the pair departed, it seemed the Royals would struggle to reach the 150-run mark. However, some big hits by captain David Miller (28 off 19) and Ferisco Adams (10* off 4) saw the home side end their innings on a competitive 169/6.
Paarl Royals welcome the Sunrisers Eastern Cape to Paarl on Thursday, 19 January while Durban’s Super Giants have a few days to recover before the Pretoria Capitals make the trip to Kingsmead on Friday, 20 January.