Inspirational Tahir puts Super Kings on the brink of spot in SA20 final

By the time Imran Tahir had unleashed his inner Jonty Rhodes for the second time on Wednesday evening, the outcome of this SA20 eliminator was a fait accompli. 

Tahir, all 44 years of him, with his highlighted hair tied in a bun and his beard ever so carefully cropped energised his teammates and this — for a mid week match — reasonable crowd, to continue the Joburg Super Kings late resurgence in the competition. 

The defeated the Paarl Royals by nine wickets, chasing down a well below par target of 139 with 40 balls to spare.

Tahir started his session of magic with a tumbling catch, running back from short fine leg, putting in a late dive as the ball dropped over his shoulder to end the innings of Mitchell van Buuren in the third over. 

By that point the Super Kings, who claimed the final qualifying spot courtesy of a last over victory against the Durban Super Giants last Saturday, were already asserting their authority over the Royals. 

Their kingpin Jos Buttler had been dismissed by countryman Sam Cook two balls earlier for only 10 and by the time the power play ended, the visitors — classified as the home team on account of finishing in third place on the log — had lost four wickets. 

It was Cook’s first outing in the tournament, as a replacement for the injured Lizaad Williams, and he made a devastating impact taking 4/24. There was nothing fancy in his approach, other than subtle chances of pace, he also extracted good early movement when the ball was still new. 

Paarl, so comfy in their own conditions at the foothills of the Drankenstein, looked lost and although they tried to gain a foothold through a 44-run fifth wicket partnership involving their skipper David Miller and the veteran Dane Vilas, Tahir returned to blow up that foundation. 

Sprinting around the fine leg boundary, he put in a dive and with both hands low to the ground claimed another stunning catch, setting off on that characteristic celebratory sprint which lately has included a flourish at the end, that is reminiscent of a muscular footballer now plying his trade in an oil-rich desert. 

Tahir for good measure also showed off his primary skill; he cleaned up poor Bjorn Fortuin first ball with a delicious googly and then having conceded 10 runs to Miller in his final over, had the last laugh, when another googly bounced more than the Royals captain anticipated, catching the outside edge, with Donvan Ferreira taking a good reflex catch. 

Miller’s 47 was the best by a Royals batter. 

Cook and Nandre Burger, the latter bowling 145km/h missiles, took seven wickets between them and there was success for the spinners later with Moeen Ali taking a wicket alongside the two picked up by Tahir. 

Faf du Plessis’ management of his bowlers was superb as he mixed and moved them to different ends, keeping the Royals off kilter. 

He and Leus du Plooy shared an opening stand of 105, with the latter continuing his good form this season, with his third half-century this season.

The emphatic win set up another clash with the Super Giants back at the Wanderers on Thursday night, with the winner heading to Cape Town to face the defending champions, the Sunrisers Eastern Cape in Saturday night’s final.