Heinrich Klaasen's unbeaten 56 went in vain as Paarl Royals registered a win against Durban's Super Giants (DSG) by 10 runs in match 10 of SA20 2023 at Boland Park, Paarl. Wickets kept falling and Klaasen was left with too much work to do at the business end as left-arm spinner Bjorn Fortuin and medium pacer Evan Jones did the job with the ball for the Royals.

Chasing an above-par 170 at Boland Park, DSG opened the innings with Kyle Mayers and Wiaan Mulder. Mayers (12 runs) began the innings with aerial hits against Wihaan Lubbe before getting dismissed by Fortuin's turn in the third over. 

The damage to the DSG batting line-up continued in the powerplay as Fortuin removed skipper Quinton de Kock and Dwaine Pretorius for ducks. The Super Giants were reduced to 37/3 at the end of the powerplay.

Mulder departed next after making 29 off 24 balls as all-rounder Jason Holder (17 runs) came to the crease. Klaasen and Holder then added 31 runs off 19 balls together before the latter was dismissed and had to walk back to the dug-out. 

DSG were struggling at 79/5 after 11 overs. Klaasen then received some support from Keshav Maharaj, who kept the scoreboard ticking. Both South Africans stitched a 26-run stand in 16 balls to keep the chase alive.

Evan Jones returned into attack for the Royals when the Super Giants needed 38 off 18 balls. The medium pacer sent back two batters to the dugout, keeping the 18th over tight. A few big hits towards the end from Klaasen could not make much of a difference as the asking rate continued to rise and DSG ran out of gas.

Earlier, de Kock had handed the ball to Mayers after DSG opted to bowl first. The Caribbean all-rounder delivered a one-run first over against the likes of Jason Roy and Jos Buttler. Hardus Viljoen then removed Roy early for just three runs but Buttler’s hitting ensured the Royals were 43 for one after the powerplay.

The English white-ball captain was almost settled at the crease before getting stumped off a Maharaj ball for 35.

Spinner Prenelan Subrayen also did his part by removing Dane Vilas for 12 runs. The Royals scorecard read 119 for three after 15 overs. Royals’ skipper David Miller then deposited a couple of sixes to the stand as Paarl Royals posted 169 runs on the board. Several Royals batters got starts but only Lubbe went on to make a fifty as he finished with 57 off 36 balls.

Brief scores:

PR: 169/6 (Wihan Lubbe 57, Jos Buttler 35) (Dwaine Pretorius 2/35, Prenelan Subrayen 1/24) defeated DSG: 159/8 (Heinrich Klaasen 56*, Wiaan Mulder 29) (Evan Jones 4/32, Bjorn Fortuin 3/14) by 10 runs.