The Durban’s Super Giants held their nerve until the last ball at Kingsmead to beat the Pretoria Capitals by two runs in a thrilling SA20 finish on Friday night.
DSG put up a competitive 209/4 in their 20 overs, with the major contributors being Kane Williamson, Wiaan Mulder and Bryce Parsons, and Pretoria ended on 207/6.
Parsons and Matthew Breetzke opened the game with a bang, putting up 60 runs in the first five overs. Rain delayed play for around 20 minutes before resuming at 5.1 overs.
Senuran Muthusamy took the first wicket, with Rilee Rossouw catching Breetzke (33 off 20 balls) on the offside.
Parsons was on 47 when Muthusamy pitched up yet another good delivery to hit the stumps.
Muthusamy took his third wicket after Quinton de Kock was caught on the leg-side by Eathan Bosch.
The former Durban resident was the most economical bowler in the Capitals line-up, racking up 3/21 from his four overs.
New Zealander Kane Williamson lived up to his hype and anchored the DSG innings, carding 60 off 40 balls.
The Capitals almost removed Williamson from the crease, but Rahmanullah Gurbaz dropped a catch off a Jimmy Neesham delivery.
The dropped effort cost the Capitals dearly, as Williamson and Mulder went on to put up a solid partnership of 91 off 44 balls.
Two lucky fans also walked home with their share of the R2 million prize money by taking a catch, with one claiming a six hit by Williamson in the 17th over.
Liam Livingstone was the other Capitals bowler to claim a wicket.
Capitals openers Will Jacks and Gurbaz appeared to have put the nail in the DSG coffin after a staggering 154-run opening partnership in just 12 overs.
Gurbaz redeemed himself after dropping Williamson, posting 89 off 43 balls until he was caught on the ropes by Heinrich Klaasen from a Noor Ahmed delivery.
Gurbaz collected the Player of the Match award.
Capitals captain Rossouw was the next to go, followed by Jacks, who made 63 off 35.
A silenced Kingsmead started to come alive after the fall of Jacks, as momentum swung back in DSG’s favour.
By the 17th over, Pretoria was on 189/4.
After getting thrashed in the opening overs, captain Keshav Maharaj took the ball in the 19th over and claimed the wicket of Livingstone.
Naveen-ul-Haq stepped up to the plate for the final over, with 14 runs required to win the game, and held off the Capitals with his yorkers to secure a dramatic victory. | Independent Media Sport