David Miller-led Pearl Royals created a shameful record in the new season of South Africa’s domestic franchise league ‘SA Twenty20′ (SA20). Sunrisers folded for just 49 runs against Eastern Cape, setting an embarrassing record for the lowest team score in the tournament’s history.
Picture of a batting disaster
Challenging Sunrisers’ target of 187 runs at Boland Park on Saturday, the Royals’ batting lineup collapsed like a house of cards from the start. After losing the wicket of Luan-Dre Pretorius in the first over, the procession of coming and going began. The team could only survive 11.5 overs in the entire innings.
Team score: 49/10 (11.5 overs)
Lowest score record: The previous lowest score was held by Pretoria Capitals (52 runs, against Sunrisers in 2024).
Individual performance: Only two batsmen from the team have reached double figures, with an individual highest score of just 14. Sunrisers dominate
Two-time champions Sunrisers Eastern Cape won by a huge margin of 137 runs today. This is the second largest victory in the history of the tournament.
Proteas pacer Anrich Norkia did the main damage in bowling. He took 4 wickets for just 13 runs in 3 overs. He also won the man-of-the-match award for this devastating spell. He also took 2 wickets each for Adam Milne and Tharindu Ratnayake.
Earlier, Jordan Harman provided a strong foundation for Sunrisers in batting. He played an unbeaten innings of 62 runs in just 28 balls with 5 fours and 4 sixes. Opener Quinton de Kock scored 42 runs in 24 balls.
Miller determined to turn around
Pearl Royals captain David Miller was disappointed with such a big loss in his first match. However, he sees it as just a bad day. After the match, Miller said:
“It was not a very good match for us. But there is a lot of competition left. The batsmen did not start well. They bowled very well. This is our first match. There are a lot of young players in the team, they will learn quickly and we will all learn together. I am looking forward to seeing how we turn around.”
