They came for Lhuan-dre Pretorius, they got Joe Root instead. As an alternative offering, seeing one of the all-time batting greats manage a run chase for the Paarl Royals in the measured way Root did at SuperSport Park yesterday didn’t make for bad viewing.
The rowdy crowd — which filled the grass embankment, packed the main stand and the majority of the suites — could eventually look past their support of the team in blue and appreciate batting of the highest class.
Of late, Root’s been associated more with the Test format, but he’s made some adjustments to align with England’s Bazball ethos and was called up for the Champions Trophy. Brendon McCullum, who has taken over England’s white ball sides, will have been delighted to see the 34-year-old Root playing the kind of innings he produced yesterday.
You just saw really good cricket shots; straight drives, cover drives and pulls. Everyone thinks T20 is about bashing, but he’s come in there and made an elegant 92 — a match-winning innings
— David Miller
There wasn’t a lot of funky shot-making, but Root showed that the conventional allied with an attacking mindset, and hitting the ball harder, can still work in the cut and thrust of the T20 format. “He’s one of the best players ever. He can adapt to so many different situations,” Royals skipper David Miller said of Root.
“Today was phenomenal. You just saw really good cricket shots; straight drives, cover drives and pulls. Everyone thinks T20 is about bashing, but he’s come in there and made an elegant 92 — a match-winning innings.”
Root was forced into a more assertive role after Pretorius, his opening partner and the SA20’s break-out star, suffered the indignity of a first ball dismissal in his first match at his provincial home ground.
It was an awkward moment for the 18-year-old Pretorius. Having ridden the crest of a wave, through the first week of the SA20’s third season, been the name on everyone’s lips — from Root to Ben Stokes — he got a taste of the flipside of success.
Although ardent supporters of the Pretoria Capitals, many of the sold-out audience were excited to see Pretorius — his father also purchased two suites in the grandstand for friends and family.
After shaking off the disappointment following Pretorius’ early dismissal, they were all waving their pink flags at the end, as Pretorius’ new mate carved out a majestic, unbeaten 92 from 60 balls, hitting 11 fours and a pair of sixes.
As he did with Pretorius in his first match, Root also had to marshall Rubin Hermann through the early stages of his debut in the competition. Hermann’s younger brother Jordan has been a regular starter for the two-time champions, the Sunrisers Eastern Cape, and Rubin’s first steps indicated he might be as impactful.
It took him a while to get going, but with Root playing a calming role, he grew into his innings and played some delightful shots on the way to scoring 56. Importantly he shared a partnership with Root, worth 125 runs, that kept the Royals up with the required run rate.
David Miller helped deliver the coup de grace with an unbeaten 48, as the visitors reached the required total with two balls to spare. “We were going very comfortably, but as you get closer, you start to feel more pressure. But we concentrated on limiting the dot balls, because the boundary options were always there,” said Miller.
Having registered what had been the highest first innings total of the tournament, after choosing to bat, the eight-wicket defeat will be a bitter pill for the Capitals to swallow. Despite winning a match — with a bonus point — they still give the impression they are yet to get started in SA20. Two of their matches have been curtailed by rain, and in their first game they folded terribly in pursuit of 209 in Durban.
Here in the sunshine, Afghanistan’s Rahmanullah Gurbaz (42), 23-year-old Englishman Will Smeed (54) and Proteas wicketkeeper/batter Kyle Verreynne (45) played with adventure and purpose to give their side a sizeable total to defend.
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