Pretoria Capitals vs Paarl Royals, 25th Match, SA20, 2025-26 - Commentary

Today's win has ensured a playoff spot for the Royals and they will be mighty pleased especially with it being an away win with a bonus point. They become the second team after SEC to move into the playoffs. Tomorrow, MICT play hosts to SEC at Newlands and it's a must-win game for the home side if they are to keep their playoff qualification hopes alive. Meanwhile, a win for SEC tomorrow will guarantee them a top-two finish. We hope you enjoyed our coverage. Until next time, goodbye and cheers!

Ottneil Baartman | Player of the Match: (On the conditions and bowling approach) We could see there was a bit of variable, almost invisible bounce in the wicket. So if you hit the surface hard, it did enough for you. Because of that, I don’t think there was a huge need to rely on slower balls. The cross-seam deliveries really became the key, just exploring the conditions and letting the wicket do the work. (On his injury which kept him out for a while) Sitting on the sidelines is always frustrating when you’re injured, but I’ve been around the game for a while now, so I tried to look at it positively. You learn a lot by watching. The guy who came in actually made an impact and bowled really well, so full credit to him. It shows that when you get an opportunity, you have to step up and that’s exactly what happened today. (On setting the game up and bowling partnerships) I felt like I was able to set the game up, and that always helps the team. Bowling in tandem with someone like Sikandar Raza makes a massive difference. He’s taking wickets at the other end, which allows you to settle into your spell, build pressure, and then really attack the stumps. That partnership makes your job so much easier.

David Miller: It was a phenomenal day. The guys really came out and executed really, really well, stuck to their lengths as long as possible and it was a perfect day, really. Coming in and being clinical and getting the bonus point too is obviously cherry on the top. (On Baartman) He's been around for a long time now and he's very experienced, and along with that, his skill set is really good. He comes out as a skiddy bowler, so, if he bowls at good areas, it's quite hard to get him off. His experience is what gets him through and his character, he wants the ball in tough moments as well. As a captain, that's all you can ask for. (Strategy and tactics) It's a big thing. You've got to be flexible out in the middle and kind of go with the flow on the day, but have our tactics. Different conditions now, we're going to Durban, so we need to sit down and work that out, and then back to Paarl. So it's just working out what works on the day and being adaptable.

Keshav Maharaj: Very disappointing with the bat. It's the conditions of play and just trying to play certain ways. It's obviously something that we need to address because it's gone on for a couple of games now. You get a little bit of a start and then lose your way through that and don't set up the foundation. Sherfane's not always going to bail us out. So a bit disappointed, but nonetheless, come Saturday, and we have to bounce back. 160 (would have been a good score), we knew it was a used wicket and we saw the variable bouncing times and a couple of them were zipping through. If we had 30 more runs on the board, it could have been a very different outcome and we saw how the bowlers bowled up front. But, nonetheless, 126, it's not even close to par, so it's very hard to defend that. (On the bowling) We were good in patches, a couple of free balls which tends to happen when you're behind the eight ball. But I think the bowling unit has really tried their best over here. We lose as a team and at the end of the day, back to the drawing board, we come back on Saturday and at bounce back. I think it's been the tale of the tournament - a lot of drop catches. So it's something that we can look to assess. As long as the attitude is right, then we don't question it. When you're behind the eight ball, those things tend to not go your way. Thank you to the crowd at the SuperSport Park. You guys have been an amazing crowd. Five solid games. Obviously disappointing not to have a good home record, but thank you for all the love and support.

20:44 Local Time, 18:44 GMT, 00:14 IST: A terrific all-round performance from the Royals as they see things through with consummate ease. The Capitals had won all their games batting first coming into this game and Maharaj opted to bat first today as well. Baartman bowled beautifully and stole the show by picking up a 5-fer - he also took a hat-trick in the penultimate over (the second player to take a hat-trick in SA20). Apart from Rutherford and to some extent Brevis, all the other home side batters struggled on a slightly dry surface. 127 was never going to be enough. In response, Williams struck twice early to get rid of the Royals' openers but Hermann and Lawrence steadied the ship with a 52-run stand. The former fell against the run of play but he did the damage with a breezy 46-run knock. Miller walked in and batted fluently from the word go. Both Miller and Lawrence hit a flurry of boundary at the fag end to run away with the show. The latter was knocked over by a beauty of a slower ball by Ngidi but the game was done by then. The visitors cruised home with 29 balls to spare.

Ngidi to Dan Lawrence, THATS OUT!! Bowled!!

The Royals have to chase it within 16 overs to get the bonus point and they are well on track