Richard Gleeson performed heroics with the ball to set the Joburg Super Kings up for a thrilling Super Over win over the Durban Super Giants in their Betway SA20 match at the Wanderers on Thursday night.
This was the first-ever Super Over in the history of the tournament, and it delivered quality entertainment. The victory catapulted JSK to the top of the table with three wins in three games.
"I think as a neutral or a fan, these are the kinds of matches you want to see, ebb and flow, and Super Over," Faf du Plessis, the JSK captain shared after the match.
Aiden Markram, the DSG captain, won the toss and elected to bowl first. JSK replied with a Shubham Ranjane anchored 205/4. Evan Jones put on a clinic in power-hitting as he inspired DSG to 205/8.
Gleeson took the ball in the Super Over and conceded a mere five runs. Rilee Rossouw then hit two boundaries in three balls to see JSK over the line.
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"I think Glees tonight was exceptional. That's why you have experience in your team, that's why guys like that are popular around the circuit. You want to give the ball to someone you know can shut it down. With the wet ball to bowl that amount of yorkers, He showed a lot of heart, a lot of character," Du Plessis explained.
The Super Over was not the first moment Gleeson bowled JSK into a position of strength in the contest. The Englishman was given the unenviable task of bowling the penultimate over of the match while Evan Jones was running wild with the bat.
A last ball thriller in Joburg 😲
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Gleeson took two wickets and conceded a mere four runs in the over. He delivered the ball that led to Evan Jones' run-out before he uprooted David Wiese's stumps with the next delivery. The two wickets broke the back of DSG's chase. Gleeson finished the innings with three wickets for 41 runs in four overs and was JSK's most successful bowler.
DSG looked firmly on course to a win until the 19th over, in large part because of Jones' great hitting. The allrounder, who arrived at the crease in the 13th over, put his power-hitting skills on display with a stunning 17-ball 43 (4X4) as he grabbed the game with the scruff of the neck.
Evan Jones led DSG's sensational fightback in a contest where they looked down and out after the first 10 overs. The visitors had a slow and steady start that saw them reach 76/3 at the halfway point. Devon Conway, Kane Williamson, and Heinrich Klaasen had starts but failed to kick on; however, their efforts were good enough to provide Jones with a platform to launch from.
The allrounder smashed a 17-ball 43 to power DSG into contention. The 29-year-old shared a game-changing 60-run fifth-wicket partnership in 23 deliveries. He followed that up with a 20-run sixth-wicket partnership with Wiese in 16 balls.
Earlier in the evening, Shubham Ranjane scored an unbeaten 31-ball 50 to help JSK to mount a competitive total. This is his maiden SA20 half-century. Ranjane joined forces with Wiaan Mulder to stabilise JSK's innings with a 64-run fourth-wicket partnership after a collapse in the middle overs.
The 31-year-old then contributed an outstanding 49 runs from 16 balls with Donovan Ferreira to send the hosts over the 200-run mark. Ferreira, who joined Ranjane in the middle in the 18th over, scored a sensational 33 not out from 10 balls (1X4, 4X6).
Noor Ahmad was the pick of the bowlers for DSG. The Afghanistan spinner took an outstanding three wickets for 12 runs in four overs. Simon Harmer was the only other wicket-taker with a single wicket for 22 runs in four overs.
JOBURG SUPER KINGS: Faf du Plessis (capt), Matthew De Villiers, Rilee Rossouw, Wiaan Mulder, Shubham Ranjane,, Donovan Ferreira (wk), Prenelan Subrayen, Dian Forrester, Duan Jansen, Akeal Hosein, Richard Gleeson.
DURBAN SUPER GIANTS: Devon Conway, KS Williamson, Jos Buttler, Aiden Markram (capt), Heinrich Klaasen (wk), Evan Jones, David Wiese, Eathan Bosch, Simon Harmer, Kwena Maphaka, Noor Ahmad