Royals won the toss and chose to bowl first, which was regarded by many as a highly controversial decision on captain David Miller’s part. DSG wasted no time piling the runs on the board. 

Sunil Narine opened for the visitors and hit a magnificent 22 off 11 balls before being caught by Rubin Hermann off the bowling of Mujeeb Ur Rahman. DSG captain Aidan Markram (66 off 46) and David Bedingham (25 off 26) then got a nice little partnership going, before Heinrich Klaasen (29 off 18) and Liam Livingston (32 off 10) added more useful runs to take DSG to 186/5 in their 20 overs.

The two PR youngsters, Lhuan-dre Pretorius (18 off 14) and Asa Tribe (3 off 5) didn’t quite get the hosts’ innings off the ground, but Dan Lawrence (63 off 41) and Rubin Hermann (65 not out off 45) essentially sealed the deal for the Royals. Their third-wicket partnership was pivotal, with the pair adding 106 runs off only 61 balls. 

After Eathan Bosch got rid of Lawrence, it was up to Hermann and the Zimbabwean Sikandar Raza (27 not out off 13 balls) to take Royals to the end. Royals required six runs off David Wiese’s final over, and the equation was reduced to two runs off the last delivery, when Raza held his nerve to hit a six and secure the victory.  

After the match, Royals captain David Miller said he was extremely proud of his team, which has significantly less experience than all the other teams in the competition.

The result moves Royals into second place on the SA20 table, above SEC on net run-rate, and leaves DSG in fifth spot. DSG must beat PR in the return fixture on Saturday, their last league game, and will need other results to go their way if they want to make the playoffs.

OFM Sport/Ilse Smalberger