
Paarl Royals rode on Joe Root's unbeaten 92 and skipper David Miller's quickfire 48 off just 24 deliveries to get their third victory in their fourth game in the ongoing SA20 on Saturday, January 18. The Royals pulled off the highest successful chase in SA20 history as they overhauled Pretoria Capitals' score of 212 without much discomfort. Miller during his unbeaten 48-run knock, became the first South African batter to amass 11,000 runs in T20 cricket.
Miller needed just a couple of runs to get to the 11k milestone after missing it in the last game against MI Cape Town but got to it in some style before being followed by Faf du Plessis in the evening game between Joburg Super Kings and MI Cape Town, who was breathing down his neck. Du Plessis required 19 runs to get to the milestone and scored a well-compiled 61. Du Plessis not only got to the landmark of 11,000 T20 runs but also became the 13th batter in the shortest format to score 1,000 fours.
Most runs by a South African batter in T20 cricket
11,046 - David Miller in 468 innings
11,042 - Faf du Plessis in 376 innings
10,620 - Quinton de Kock in 362 innings
9,424 - AB de Villiers in 320 innings
9,067 - Rilee Rossouw in 352 innings
However, it wasn't enough for the Super Kings to stop MI Cape Town at the Newlands as Ryan Rickelton went adrift smashing a brutal 89 off just 39 deliveries, making a mockery of the 173-run target. Reeza Hendricks remained unbeaten on 34 as du Plessis tried everything in his might with the bowling attack at his disposal featuring Matheesha Pathirana, Imran Tahir and Tabraiz Shamsi but just wasn't enough.
This was the first defeat for the Super Kings in the tournament while MICT upsurged Paarl Royals at the top of the table in a matter of hours. The race for the top four spots is hotting up and the defending champions Sunrisers Eastern Cape after getting their first win of the season a couple of days ago, will be keen to string a few more wins together to get into the mix.