Eagles launch their title defence in style

Eagles 174 for 8 (Rudolph 66, van Wyk 50) beat Warriors 113 for 8 (Rudolph 3 for 16) by 61 runs
Scorecard

Jacques Rudolph, Morne van Wyk and Nicky Boje were the stand-out performers as the reigning champions, the Eagles, saw off the Eastern Cape Warriors by 61 runs in the opening Standard Bank Pro20 match at Goodyear Park in Bloemfontein on Wednesday.

The Eagles thought they were going to regret a collapse from 121 for 0 to 174 for 8, but that proved more than enough runs to win as an accurate bowling performance limited the Warriors to 113 for 8 in reply.

The Eagles openers, van Wyk and Rudolph, stayed together until the 13th over, adding 121 runs off 83 balls, but the slow bowling of Arno Jacobs put the innings on the skids. Jacobs - a part-timer by his own admission - started the rot by trapping van Wyk lbw for 50 (39 balls) and ended up with 5 for 26, the first five-wicket haul in the history of Pro20 cricket.

While Jacobs was the hero with the ball, he was helped by the pressure exerted at the other end by fellow offspinner Johan Botha, who took 2 for 22 in his four overs. Rudolph looked the complete batsman, hitting 10 fours and a six with minimum effort but wonderful timing as he scored 66 off 45 balls.

Boje (15) and Ryan Bailey (18) were the only other Eagles batsmen to make a contribution as the defending champions closed their innings in untidy fashion. But the Warriors innings then subsided with barely a whimper.

Johan van der Wath provided the pace-bowling impetus with 2 for 15, but it was the slow poison of the spinners, who gained useful turn, that had the major effect. Boje (4-0-25-1) and Thandi Tshabalala (4-0-15-1) bowled in tandem and swamped the Warriors in pressure, before Rudolph rounded off a fabulous personal evening by taking 3 for 16 in three overs. Jacobs and Murray Goodwin each scored 32, but were always under pressure.