Du Plessis, Milne propel Texas Super Kings to top of table
Du Plessis made 91 before retiring out while Milne's five-wicket haul skittled Orcas for 137 in chase of 189
Du Plessis made 91 before retiring out while Milne's five-wicket haul skittled Orcas for 137 in chase of 189
Scorer: K Vairavan | Commentator: Rvel Zahid
Texas Super Kings will go into the playoffs riding high on confidence after a clinical win and they get their wish: they end the group stage with a top-two finish. Adam Milne was the star of the show with the ball, picking up a magnificent fifer and showing off his bag of tricks and gave no chance to Orcas to get back into the game. Earlier, Faf du Plessis and Shubham Ranjane forged a match-winning stand that helped them post a competitive total. The fireworks fizzled out toward the end of the innings but they got enough on the board -- a total that had something in it for the bowlers, especially when the pace was taken off and variations were used effectively. Orcas couldn't pick up wickets at regular intervals and that made it hard to keep a lid on the scoring. They ran into a fully charged classy du Plessis and he's often unstoppable when he's set and enjoying himself out there. In response, Orcas were slow to start and were playing catch-up all the way. David Warner couldn't get going and Shayan Jahangir went without adding a run. Shimron Hetmyer got a start but with the asking rate ballooning and not much support from the other end, the cards were stacked against him. His lone-ranger effort didn't come off tonight in this do-or-die affair. It was too little, too late by the time Raza arrived at the crease. Super Kings finish on top of the table but they will have to wait till tomorrow to see if they can hold onto the spot before the playoffs get underway.
Faf du Plessis, Player of the Match: Always enjoyed my cricket with extra responsibility, that's something I never get tired of. Donovan has been hitting it really well and his six-hitting capabilities have been so good. I backed him to get us 10 to 15 runs more. Big fan of it (retire out). The game is becoming very tactical in that sense...our squad depth is better and we have adapted to the conditions. We changed our bowling attack a little bit...disappointed with yesterday's result as we got ourselves into a good position to win that game but unfortunately didn't
BC Fortuin c Ferreira b Milne 4 (11b 0x4 0x6) SR: 36.36
CJ Gannon b Milne 0 (1b 0x4 0x6) SR: 0
Sikandar Raza c †Patel b Milne 23 (17b 2x4 1x6) SR: 135.29
Du Plessis made 91 before retiring out while Milne's five-wicket haul skittled Orcas for 137 in chase of 189