Durban Heat's six-wicket win against the Nelson Mandela Bay Giants at Kingsmead yesterday has put the cat among the pigeons in the Mzansi Super League play-off positions.
In chasing down the Giants 173/6 with an over to spare, they moved to 14 points with three games left.
The teams above them (Tshwane Spartans, Giants and Paarl Rocks) have 19 points, but two of them (Cape Town Blitz v Spartans and Jozi Stars v Rocks) are in action today in their seventh (Spartans) and eighth (Rocks) matches.
After a fast start that stuttered at the hands of Keshav Maharaj, Ben Dunk and Jason Roy picked off the fast bowlers with ease.
That the Giants were able to make 170-plus was down to captain Jon-Jon Smuts's diligent knock
Dunk, Roy and Heino Kuhn all fell to Maharaj to leave the Giants tottering at 75/3 after nine overs.
That the Giants were able to make 170-plus was down to captain Jon-Jon Smuts's diligent knock.
The target looked inadequate. Even though the Heat lost Wesley Marshall early, it wasn't a big deal.
Wihan Lubbe then took 28 runs off Junior Dala in the fourth over to spice up the chase.
The score of 17/1 suddenly became 45/1 and the hosts were in a strong position.
The 51-run second-wicket stand between Lubbe and Alex Hales made life easy for the rest of the batsmen.
Strong third- and fourth-wicket partnerships between Hales and David Miller (45) and Miller and Dane Vilas (44) formed the backbone of the successful chase.
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