Pretoria Capitals keep top-two hopes alive with a historic win
Pretoria Capitals produced one of the comebacks of the SA20 season, recovering from 7 for 5 to beat Joburg Super Kings by 21 runs, away at the Wanderers.
After opening the season with two losses, Pretoria were in the lower half of the table. A strong mid-season turnaround changed the story for them.
Before this match, Pretoria sat third on the points table with 4 wins, 4 losses and 1 no result from 9 matches. They’ve now moved to the top of the points table at the end of their league stage fixtures with 5 wins, 4 losses and 24 points. The Capitals also have 4 wins in their last 5 matches.
JSK were placed fourth and have now dropped to the fifth spot. They are now winless with 4 losses and a no result in their last 5 matches, with a game in hand against Paarl Royals.
Pretoria’s batting innings began disastrously under overcast conditions. Daniel Worrall and Wiaan Mulder ripped through the top order inside 5 overs. Pretoria lost their fifth wicket with the score on 7, the lowest total at the fall of the fifth wicket in SA20 history and the second-lowest ever in a men’s franchise T20 match.
Only once before had a team won a men’s T20 after losing half the side with fewer than 10 runs on the board. But what happened next, was beyond anyone’s expectation.
Four Pretoria batters were dismissed for ducks. Two others fell for single-digit scores. Dewald Brevis and Sherfane Rutherford were the only batters to reach double figures.
Rutherford & Brevis script turnaround
From 7 for 5, the match turned through a counter-attacking partnership between Dewald Brevis and Sherfane Rutherford. The pair added 103 runs off 74 balls for the sixth wicket, the first century partnership for the sixth wicket or lower in SA20 history.
Brevis made 53 runs after surviving an early drop. Rutherford finished unbeaten on 74 while batting at No. 7. Pretoria recovered to 143 for 6, a total that looked unlikely after the early collapse.
Rutherford’s 74* is the highest individual score in SA20 history by a batter at No. 7 or lower. He has now scored 163 runs without dismissal in 3 innings at No. 7 this season, with 40-plus scores in all 3 of them.
Rutherford also became the first Pretoria Capitals batter to score 300 runs in a single SA20 season.
He moved to second on the season run-scorers list with 317 runs at an average of 79.25.
Pretoria bowlers seal the deal
JSK’s chase never settled despite Dian Forrester’s unbeaten 44. Keshav Maharaj (3/15) controlled the middle overs, removing James Vince, Matthew de Villiers and Wiaan Mulder to reduce JSK to 54 for 4.
JSK slipped further to 68 for 6 and their task became tougher when captain Donovan Ferreira retired hurt with a shoulder injury. The equation rose to 60 off the final 4 overs, then 28 off the last 6 balls.
Lizaad Williams (3/25) struck twice in the final over to finish with 3 wickets, helping Pretoria record a historic win.
Maharaj, Williams and Gideon Peters now have 9 wickets each this season.
The win took Pretoria to the summit while the loss meant Joburg missed a chance to secure playoff qualification.
Pretoria’s fate now depends on the final league match against Paarl Royals. The Capitals can finish in the top two only if Paarl Royals lose their last match. If Paarl win, Pretoria will finish outside the top two, regardless of the SEC result against MICT.