NEW DELHI: Paarl Royals continued their winning streak by comfortably chasing 147 against Joburg Super Kings (JSK), sealing a six-wicket victory and moving to the top of the table.
Bowlers Bjorn Fortuin (2/22), Mujeeb Ur Rahman (1/28), Joe Root (1/16), and Dayyaan Galiem (1/19) ensured JSK could only post 146/6, despite Jonny Bairstow’s valiant 60 off 40 balls and Donovan Ferreira’s unbeaten 32 off 19.
Miller showcased his finishing skills with a towering six off Lutho Sipamla, completing the chase in style alongside Mitchell van Buuren (44 off 45).
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Admitting the team’s struggles in the post-match press conference, JSK head coach Stephen Fleming said, “We are unsettled, but it’s the nature of where the squad’s at right now. The last two games have been a little underwhelming in terms of some of the quality of our play. And we’ve just found ourselves in situations where we either run short or just not having a good enough sequence with the ball to put pressure on.”
“We’re a little bit off from the top down, from management down. We’ve got to settle and start playing a bit more or putting a bit more rhythm into our cricket, which is not there at the moment,” he added.
On topping the standings, Royals’ star Fortuin cautioned, “We won’t count our chickens too early. The past two seasons we’ve had good starts and then sort of fallen away towards the back end. So we’ll take it game by game.”
Fortuin also praised veterans like Joe Root for their invaluable experience, adding, “With Root and DK (Dinesh Karthik), there’s a lot of experience we can lean on. He himself has played almost 500 games, so from a game plan point of view, he’s pretty sound. He’s not a loud guy who would shout at us, but he has his own way of leading.”
With this win, Paarl Royals fortified their playoff hopes, leaving JSK with tough decisions ahead.
