Salt, Parnell shine with the bat as Capitals beat Sunrisers
Pretoria Capitals (Source: Twitter)
Phil Salt resistance with the bat, followed by a dominating bowling performance helped Pretoria Capitals to beat Sunrisers Eastern Cape in Match 3 of the ongoing SA20.
Salt’s unbeaten 77 kept the Capitals going
After being invited to bat first, Pretoria Capitals got off to a flying start but lost wickets regularly and were 57 for three at the end of six overs. Phil Salt and Senuran Muthusamy complimented each other to add 35 runs for the fourth wicket, before Sunrisers’ skipper Aiden Markram scalped two back to back wickets to further reduce the Capitals to five down with eighty on the board.
Salt was then joined by Jimmy Neesham and the pair kept the scoreboard ticking. Salt perfectly held one end and completed his half century in 30 balls. Despite all the wickets and weather interruption, the Capitals were looking in control as they were marching towards a formidable total. Neesham got out after making a well made 37 off 28, which marked the arrival of Wayne Parnell, who played a match changing cameo of 29 off 9.
The Capitals’ skipper took on Ottniel Baartman in the last over, smashed him for three huge sixes and took the team post 190 mark. Salt remained unbeaten on 77 off 47. Markram was the pick of the bowlers for the Sunrisers.
Pace is pace ft. Anrich Nortje
In reply, Sunrisers Eastern Cape had a horrible start with the bat as they could manage just 28 runs with the loss of 2 wickets in the first six overs. After the last over;s fireworks with the bat, Parnell drew the first blood with the ball, dismissing Sarel Erwee in the very first ball of his spell.
Anrich Nortje marked his arrival in style as the speedster was constantly bowling 150-plus rockets and started his spell with a wicket-maiden. Markram was too sent back by Neesham just after the powerplay and Tristan Stubbs joined JJ Smuts in the middle. Stubbs started his aggressive approach the very next over while trying to get Sunrisers back in the game.
However, Stubbs was soon cleaned up by a 151 kph thunderbolt from Nortje and the men in orange found themselves in huge trouble. Smuts alongside Tom Abell tried to get the chase back on track during the last four overs but the Capitals held their shape and won their opening fixture by 23 runs. Anrich Nortje was the pick of the bowlers for the Capitals with 2 for 18 in 4 overs.
Brief Score
Pretoria Capitals: 193/6 (20 Overs)
Phil Salt 77* (47), Jimmy Neesham 37 (28);
Aiden Markram 2-17 (4), Ottniel Baartman 2-45 (3)
Sunrisers Eastern Cape: 150/5 (17.4 Overs)
JJ Smuts 66 (51), Tom Abell 40 (24);
Anrich Nortje 2-18 (4), Wayne Parnell 1-38 (4)
Pretoria Capitals won by 23 runs
Also Read: Ferreira's all-round show help Super Kings kick off SA20 in style
 "Kaushik Kashyap")
