Fabulous Faf gives Super Kings life in triumph over Root-less Royals

Faf du Plessis led the charge for the Joburg Super Kings, scoring 87 in their victory over the Paarl Royals at the Wanderers on Thursday.
Faf du Plessis led the charge for the Joburg Super Kings, scoring 87 in their victory over the Paarl Royals at the Wanderers on Thursday.
Image: SportzPics/SA20

So this is what life without Joe Root looks like for the Paarl Royals. It isn’t pretty. 

The Betway SA20’s table toppers lost just their second match in this year’s tournament, after failing to recover from a horrendous start with the bat, in which Root’s absence was keenly felt. 

They were able to scrape together 150 runs, but it proved insufficient as a fired up Faf du Plessis guided his Joburg Super Kings to a seven-wicket victory, with 13 balls to spare. 

Du Plessis played the kind of innings that has made Root such a valued part of the Royals campaign, controlling what could have been a tricky run chase. Along with the way the 40 year old also engaged in some animated exchanges with Kwena Maphaka, in what was the most enthralling mini-battle of the competition. 

Maphaka bowled superbly, especially in his first two overs when he had Du Plessis taking evasive action against 145km/h bouncers. Du Plessis got his own back, hitting a couple of wide half volleys over extra cover and then reminded the teenager to keep his cool after smashing a short ball over him for six when Maphaka had wandered in too far off the boundary. 

Besides the exceptional Mujeeb Ur Rahman — and those two overs from Maphaka — Du Plessis had the measure of the Paarl attack. Worryingly for both Paarl and the Proteas, Lungi Ngidi, playing just his fourth match of the tournament, looked innocuous. He needs match time before going to the Champions Trophy in three weeks time.

Du Plessis finished with 87 off 55 balls, hitting four fours and seven sixes, keeping his side in contention for a playoff spot.

Root was benched for this encounter, which was his final attachment in the competition. He leaves SA tomorrow headed for India, where he will play for England in a short ODI series to prepare for the Champions Trophy. Omitting Root on Thursday was to help prepare the Royals for the final week without him which will also be the tournament’s most important stage.

It’s safe to say the batting didn't pass muster in the first half of the innings. Root has made it clear throughout the tournament how well he felt the Royals have done in adapting to different conditions; whether those be the batting paradise that was Centurion, when they chased down 213 against the Pretoria Capitals or the slow, turning surface in Paarl, where they resisted the urge to get 170 and settled for 140, which proved enough to win, also against the Capitals. 

He played the pivotal role in those matches, making 92 not out in Centurion and 78 not out in Paarl, batting through the innings on both occasions. 

His control was missing at the Wanderers and no-one filled in for him properly as the Royals sank to 80/6 in the 12th over. They suffered from the same problems which have afflicted a number of teams in the competition — an inability to adapt to conditions. The Wanderers pitch was slightly two paced, but nothing that should have proved so disconcerting as to have more than half the batting line-up back in the dugout with eight overs left. 

Mitchell Owen, the newest Australian hero, who smashed a 39-ball hundred for the Hobart Hurricanes in the Big Bash Final last week has been roped in as Root’s replacement for the remainder of the SA20 and Paarl will hope he can provide a similar spark for them as he did Down Under. 

The absence of David Miller with a groin injury didn’t help either, but fortunately the experience of Indian import, Dinesh Karthik, who made 53 off 39 balls — including a hat-trick of sixes against Wihan Lubbe — allowed the Royals to post a competitive total. 

It proved to be insufficient because of Du Plessis’ brilliance, but at least it provided much-needed intel for the week ahead, and with a bit of time on their side, they can try to come up with a solution for how to fill the gap left by Root.


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