PR vs DSG

That is all from the SA20 action tonight. Tomorrow the action moves to Gqeberha as SEC host JSK for match number 24. We will see you then. For now, this is Sourabh Agrawal signing off on behalf of Darpan Tikiya and the entire team. Cheers!

Rubin Hermann is the Player of the Match for his 65* off 45, here are his words: "It is quiet calm (on his heart rate). I tried to stay as calm as possible and made sure we win, I was not really nervous. We knew one good partnership would win us this game, so Dan and I just decided to take it deep. It went to the last ball in the end but glad we got the win. Great tournament, gives us a great opportunity to rub shoulders with the best in the world. To have seen them and then playing with them and competing against them is great. The crowd has been unbelievable, we get great support here. Absolutely love this crowd, love playing for them."

David Miller (Paarl Royals captain): "Our plan was to chase if we won the toss, it was not a 50-50. It gets better in the night, has played differently in the past but we thought it was a chasing wicket. Suprerb batting by the guys in the middle. Rubin and Dan, really happy for them. Big partnerships are what you need in Paarl, really happy for Rubin as he is back to where he belongs. He (Raza) has done it so many times, nice to have his experience, a 39-year young man diving around."

Aiden Markram: "There is a lot to reflect on. Another close one that we could not get the right side on. Had we got some of those (tight finishes) in our favour, the whole tournament would have looked different. You got to doff your hat to the opposition. There was some good stuff from them. Some good stuff from us too. I was happy with the score we got but we needed to bowl well. Small margins ended up going in their favour. It is what it is. We will do all the maths. We have a couple of days in between. We will try to finish on a big note." 

9:03 PM local time, 12:33 AM IST: MATCH SUMMARY

Paarl Royals (191/4 in 20 overs) beat Durban Super Giants (186/5 in 20 overs) by 6 wickets off the final ball

Rubin Hermann 65*(45) | Mujeeb Ur Rehman 2/22(4)
Aiden Markram 66(46) | Eathan Bosch 2/29(4)

What a humdinger, the crowd at the Boland Park have had the money's worth tonight and more so because the home side has got over the line in a thrilling last-ball finish and courtesy of this spectacular win Paarl Royals have jumped up to number two on the points table.

Lots of eyebrows were raised when Miller won the toss and elected to chase, everyone thought that he had made an iffy call as all the three games in the season so far at this venue had been won by the team batting first but the home skipper was confident that the pitch would get better under lights and he got it absolutely right as his side has pulled off the highest successful run chase in SA20 history at the Boland Park

187 was never going to be an easy target but Royals came out with a plan. The openers, specifically Lhuan dre Pretorius, came out swinging at got off to a brisk start even though he lost his partner Asa Tribe for a low score. Pretorius departed inside the powerplay and Royals were in a bit of bother at 36/2 in the 5th over in the run chase

That is exactly when Dan Lawrence and Rubin Hermann joined hands and they started a partnership, a partnership which turned out be match-winning in the end. The left-right combination kept milking the spinners in the middle overs, made sure the rate never got out of sight with regular boundaries and they simply made it look easy which it was not supposed to be.

DSG had their chances on the field, Lawrence was dropped on 42 by Bedingham and eventually fell on 63 after putting up 106 for the third wicket with Hermann who played the defining knock in the end remaining unbeaten on 65* and got the job done for his team even though Hermann too was dropped on 54 by Buttler in the 18th over when things were getting tight.

Defending 6 off the final over, Wiese did exceptionally well to take it to the last ball but in the end with 2 needed off the final ball Raza finished it off with a maximum to take Royals to a famous victory. DSG are now on the brink of elimination with that loss, they need a lot of results to go their way with just one match remaining, they are unlikely to go through to the playoffs.

19.6 David Wiese to Sikandar Raza, FULL TOSS... SMASHED OUTTA PARK! SIX off the final ball to cap off the highest successful run chase at this ground in the history of SA20! Wiese went searching for the yorker and failed to land it. Raza was not going to miss out. He pummelled it over midwicket. 

19.5 David Wiese to Rubin Hermann, slower ball, very full, wide of off. Hermann backed away and then threw his bat at it, only to cue-end it towards the front of point. Single taken. 2 needed off 1 ball.

19.4 David Wiese to Rubin Hermann, very full, at the tram line on the off side. Hermann tries to reach it and ends up bottom edging it. The ball rolls to the keeper. 3 to win off 2 balls.

No ways shouts Hermann, he sees the replays on the big screen and it is touch and go. Miller and Trevor Penny in the Royals dressing room not impressed either. 3 needed off 3, is there still life in this game?

19.3 David Wiese to Rubin Hermann, BOUNCER, evades the batter's attmepted pull and whistles past his ear. Not called a wide. Hermann does not like it.

19.2 David Wiese to Rubin Hermann, slower ball from around the wicket, hurled wider as he saw Hermann shuffle to the off side. In the end, the batter toe-ended it towards long-off and picked a sprightly couple. 3 more to win. 4 balls left.

19.1 David Wiese to Sikandar Raza, off-pace length ball honing in at the imaginary fourth pole from over the wicket. Raza backs away and pushes it towards deep backward point for a single. 5 runs needed off 5 balls now.

18.6 Noor Ahmad to Rubin Hermann, shorter side of good length, outside off. Hermann hung back but was a fraction early into the shot. He ends up mistiming it towards long-on and that allows a couple.