Afghan spinner Noor Ahmad wreaked havoc at Kingsmead, Durban with a five-wicket haul to bowl out Paarl Royals for a mere 83 to help Durban Super Giants win by 125 runs. After Matthew Breetzke's 43-ball 78, Heinrich Klaasen's 16-ball fifty helped Super Giants post 208/7 which turned out to be a massive total for Paarl Royals.
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After winning the toss, Keshav Maharaj opted to bowl first. In the powerplay overs, they lost Tony de Zorzi, Quinton de Kock, and JJ Smuts. Brreetzke and Marcus Stoinis shared a 102-run partnership. Stoinis looked out of touch whereas Breetzke did the bulk of the scoring in the partnership. Tabraiz Shamsi got the breakthrough in the 17th over. The opener's 43-ball 78 included five fours and six sixes. In the slog overs, Klaasen smashed six sixes and two fours in his 17-ball 50 that helped Super Giants post 208/7.
In the run chase, Paarl Royals lost their top-order batters Jason Roy, Jos Buttler, and Wihan Lubbe in the powerplay overs. After the fielding restrictions, they suffered a batting collapse. Mitchell Van Buuren remained stranded on one end whereas wickets kept falling on the other. Ahmad took a five-wicket haul from 3.2 overs whereas Maharaj picked up a couple of wickets to bowl out Paarl Royals for 83 in 13.2 overs.
โTwo clinical performances. Really proud of the boys. In the last game, it was about identifying plans to batters and stayed true to that. Breetzke has been giving good start throughout the tournament. Some of the shots he's playing reminds you of Gibbs,โ Maharaj said in the post-match presentation.ย
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Maharaj also explained why Klaasen is batting down the order. He was in awe of Afghan spinner.
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โIt's about identifying various roles he's (Klaasen) going to be fulfilling in this tournament. Absolutely special. He's (Ahmad) always delivered and is a world-class performer which is why we got him here. He's young in his career and has done wonderful things,โ the left-arm spinner added.
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With six wins from eight games, Durban Super Giants are at the top of the point table. The massive loss affected Paarl Royals' net run rate but not their standings as they are placed second with five wins from eight games.
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