On Wednesday, February 7, at the Wanderers Stadium, the SA20 Eliminator saw the Johannesburg Super Kings defeat the Paarl Royals with a combined seven wickets from Sam Cook and Nandre Burger. As the Paarl Royals lost another game after being bowled out for 138, Cook—playing in his first-ever competition match—picked up four wickets while Burger finished with three.
In fact, the Royals got off to a great start when Jason Roy hit Burger for a six and a few fours in his opening over. After just 2.2 overs, the Royals were up to 26/0 thanks to another six from Jos Buttler, which was smashed clean over Cook's head in the next over. However, Buttler attempted his signature scoop shot and inside-edged one to the keeper off the very next play. After two balls, Imran Tahir, 44, sprinted backwards to complete an outstanding catch and start raucous celebrations. Mitchell Van Buuren top-edged one ball after that.
In his subsequent over, Burger replicated the achievement by first dismissing the dangerous Roy, who had reached 24 off 11 at one point, before boosting his total to bring the Royals down to 43/4. After a little while, David Miller and Dane Vilas helped to steady the ship, but Burger came back to remove the former, putting an end to any chance of a comeback. By hitting a forty-ball fifty-seven, Miller achieved a century in Twenty20 cricket, but by the last over, Tahir and Cook had eliminated the lower order.
Leus du Plooy gave Super Kings another great start, and the chase was on. Du Plooy cleared the ropes once more, this time off Obed McCoy, following his two fours and sixes off Codi Yusuf. On the other side, du Plooy scored the majority of the goals during the powerplay, leaving Faf du Plessis with very little influence. Super Kings established themselves as the clear leaders after scoring 63 runs in the first six overs, and du Plooy kept up his good work, hitting a fifty along the way.
In the first ten overs, the openers amassed 103 runs until Du Plessis, facing Andile Phehlukwayo, eventually broke free with a six. Following du Plooy's dismissal for 68 by Tabraiz Shamsi, du Plessis took over and ended the innings with 40 balls remaining. The Royals, a club that had won five of their previous six games, ultimately lost five straight to be eliminated.
