Sam Cook's four-wicket haul, coupled with Leus du Plooy and Faf du Plessis's explosive batting, propelled Joburg Super Kings to a commanding victory over Paarl Royals in the SA20 Eliminator on Wednesday.Opting to bat first, the home side put pressure on Paarl Royals, reducing them to 43-4 within the first five overs, thanks to Nandre Burger and Cook's two wickets each.
Although David Miller and Dane Vilas (21) managed to stabilize the innings with a 44-run partnership in 33 balls, Burger struck again to break the budding stand.Despite Miller's resilient 47 off 40 balls, featuring four boundaries and two sixes, wickets kept falling at the other end, and Imran Tahir dismissed Miller on the last ball of the 17th over, leaving Royals at 126-8.
Cook then completed the job by taking the last two wickets in the same over, limiting Royals to 138. He led the bowling attack with figures of 4-24, while Burger claimed three wickets for 26 runs.In the chase, Joburg Super Kings started aggressively, with du Plooy and Captain Faf du Plessis dominating the Royals right from the outset. The opening partnership ended hopes of Paarl Royals of any fight making it a one sided contest.The Joburg Super Kings will now play the Eliminator against Durban’s Super Giants at the Wanderers today.
