Duan Jansen delivered a career-best T20 performance to drive the Joburg Super Kings to a historic 22-run victory over the Pretoria Capitals in the second match of SA20 Season 4 on Saturday, according to a release.
It was the Super Kings’ first victory at their Highveld rivals’ home ground, Centurion, in four seasons. The match was dominated by the ball with Player of the Match, Jansen, who ran through the Pretoria Capitals middle order with figures of 4/23.
The Capitals were well-placed to chase down Joburg Super Kings 168/6 after a 71-run opening stand between Will Smeed (34 off 30 balls) and Bryce Parsons (41 off 30 balls).
They moved comfortably to 86/2 in the 12th over, but it was this juncture that the Super Kings roared back into the contest when Janco Smit (1/37) silenced the Centurion crowd when the young seam bowler spoilt Dewald Brevis’ homecoming.
It was the start of a slide that saw the Capitals lose five wickets for just 28 runs with Jansen being the chief destroyer. Jansen had already picked up West Indian Shai Hope in his first spell before returning to pick up the crucial scalp of Bryce Parsons (41 off 30 balls).
The lanky left-arm seamer gained further success when he clean bowled both Connor Esterhuizen and Daniel Smith to bring the Capitals’ resistance to a close.
The four Player of the Match candidates were Duan Jansen, Tymal Mills, Wiaan Mulder and Bryce Parsons, with Jansen winning 83.2% of the fan vote.
The Capitals had earlier won the toss and elected to bowl first under sunny skies at Centurion, with new English import Tymal Mills making an immediate impression when he struck Joburg Super Kings captain Faf du Plessis with a rising delivery on the wrist.
It set the tone for the Capitals, with the Super Kings losing both openers, Du Plessis and Matt de Villiers, with just 16 runs on the board before the experienced Rilee Rossouw (48 off 33 balls) and Wiaan Mulder (43 off 28 balls) rebuilt the innings with a 78-run partnership off only 54 balls for the third wicket.
Although Mills returned to the attack to remove Rossouw, the Super Kings had put themselves into a strong position that set up Akeal Hosein (22 not out off 10 balls) and Dian Forrester (10 not out off seven balls) to push the visitors up to an unbeatable total.
