Baartman hat-trick sets up Royals' bonus-point win

What's the best way of joining someone as only the second bowler to take a hat-trick in a competition? Probably by dismissing the one who did it first. When Ottneil Baartman had Lungi Ngidi caught and bowled, he had his fifth wicket of the game, and the second hat-trick in SA20's short history. Baartman finished with 5 for 16, before Paarl Royals (PR) successfully chased down 128 against Pretoria Capitals (PC) with 29 balls to spare.

PR also had Sikandar Raza to thank for the win. Raza dismissed Dewald Brevis and Shai Hope, both set at the crease but struggling for momentum, to bag 2 for 29. In the chase, Rubin Hermann led the way with a boundary-laden 46 off 29 balls, as PR snapped PC's run of three successive wins, bagged a bonus point, and moved up to first place in the points table.

PR were sloppy with the ball after PC opted to bat. PC were 30 without loss after three overs, with 14 of those runs being extras. That's when Baartman came into the attack, and struck with his first and second ball. Connor Esterhuizen stepped out looking to heave across the line, but was bowled by a short-of-a-length ball that shaped back in. Next ball, Jordan Cox went across to try and nudge, but was trapped in front by another ball seaming in.

Wihan Lubbe denied Baartman a hat-trick in the fourth over, but the latter eventually got it in the 19th. Baartman started it by having Andre Russell caught at long-off with a hard-length delivery, then getting Lizaad Williams to chop on off a short one, and finally catching Ngidi off his own bowling.

Hope and Brevis had started rebuilding for PR after Lubbe's wicket left them at 43 for 3 in the seventh over. While Hope was happy ticking singles, Brevis had bashed two sixes in an otherwise patient start. But off the second ball of his first over - the 12th of the innings - Raza fired a round-arm delivery with a low release at Brevis, who was bowled for 21 to end a 32-run stand.

In the 16th over, Raza had Hope mistime a loft to long-on, where Asa Tribe took an agile catch. Raza bowled all his four overs in a single spell, and between his third and fourth overs, caught Sherfane Rutherford at deep midwicket. He got his second catch when he caught Russell, before scoring the winning run for PR.

The first ball Williams bowled, he got one to shape back into Lhuan-dre Pretorius, and struck him on the pad. Williams, without looking back, nearly crossed the batter in celebreappeal by the time the umpire raised his finger. In his next over, Williams had Tribe fling one to mid-off to leave PR at 17 for 2. But if PC had any hope of defending a small total at that stage, Hermann quashed them all.

Successive boundaries later in the over - one a pull and the other a cut - quickly checked PC's flow. After the powerplay, Hermann flicked Russell for four over midwicket, and deposited Keshav Maharaj for six down the ground in the eighth over. But the next two sixes from Hermann stood out. He launched Gideon Peters over long-on in the ninth over by liberally swinging his bat and then dumped him through a powerful hoick over midwicket. Hermann departed off the fifth ball of that over, but had laid the foundation of the win by then.

PR needed another 55 runs to win in 60 balls, but David Miller and Dan Lawrence got those in only 31. They added 57 in 36 balls for the fourth wicket in a stand that featured seven fours and two sixes. Miller and Lawrence combined to thrash Russell for 20 runs in the 13th over.

Lawrence started the fun with a whipped six over square leg, and a flick for four to deep-backward square. Miller joined him by driving Russell straight down the ground and pulling a slower ball behind square for a four each. If that was not enough, Williams was taken for 15 runs in the 14th over to expedite the chase.

While Miller remained unbeaten on 28 off 16 balls, Lawrence fell on 41 from 32 deliveries. Their assault, Hermann's attack, and Baartman's show ensured PR took the top spot over Sunrisers Eastern Cape by virtue of more wins.