Rossouw, bowlers send Pretoria into SA20 Final

The Pretoria Capitals became the first team to qualify for the final of the inaugural edition of SA20 with their 29-run win over Paarl. The table-toppers followed up their phenomenal performance in the group stage with a convincing win in the first semi-final, beating the Paarl Royals for the second consecutive day. Rilee Rossouw scored a vital half-century to take Pretoria to 153 in their 20 overs before the Capitals bowling line-up skittled Paarl for just 124 runs in reply to secure their berth in the final.

Having lost the toss, Pretoria got off to a poor start with the bat on a Johannesburg pitch that offered assistance to the spinners. Kusal Mendis couldn’t carry on his form from Tuesday against Paarl and was dismissed for seven by Bjorn Fortuin, miscuing his slog sweep and chipping a catch to Paul Stirling in the covers. The Royals kept things tight in the powerplay, conceding just 32 runs in the first six overs, and Tabraiz Shamsi picked up two more quick wickets to peg the Capitals back further.

Theunis de Bruyn edged behind to Jos Buttler in the seventh over while Phil Salt was trapped on the pads by the wrist-spinner for 22, leaving the Capitals in a precarious position at 51 for three. The Capitals smashed 16 runs in the tenth over from Paul Stirling to get some much-needed respite, but Colin Ingram and Jimmy Neesham fell in quick succession to leave all the responsibility on Rilee Rossouw.

The left-hander scored just 30 runs off his first 29 deliveries while looking to play anchor, but accelerated at the perfect time at the death to take Pretoria to a competitive total. Rossouw launched Evan Jones for a massive six on the leg-side and carted Lungi Ngidi for four boundaries in the 18th over to bring up his half-century. Eathan Bosch also chipped in with a handy cameo of 22 from ten, while Adil Rashid hit the final two deliveries for four, taking the Capitals to a defendable score of 153 for eight.

In response, Paarl stumbled out of the blocks in the run chase. Jason Roy departed on just the second ball of the innings, while Jos Buttler fell to a delivery that kept low from Eathan Bosch. Paul Stirling kept things interesting with an aggressive start against Anrich Nortje, but Adil Rashid deceived the Irishman to leave Paarl reeling at 49 for three.

Rashid also dismissed Dane Vilas with a googly, and the wickets continued to tumble for Paarl as their hopes of reaching the final faded away. Jimmy Neesham picked up a couple of key scalps through the middle, while Anrich Nortje applied the finishing touches to bowl the Royals out for 124 in the first semi-final.