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The four semifinalists of the inaugural SA20 League, Cricket South Africa's (CSA) domestic franchise-based T20 league have been decided. Pretoria Capitals, Paarl Royals, Joburg Super Kings and Sunrisers Eastern Cape are the teams that have made it to the final four.
After the league was temporarily halted as England toured South Africa for a three-match ODI series, the league resumed on February 2 and offered plenty of entertaining action to the fans, with the matches determining the participants of the semifinals. Here is a brief look at matches leading up to the playoffs: -February 2 *MI Cape Town vs Durban Super Giants Put to bat first by Durban, MICT put on a modest 165/5 on the board, with Rassie van der Dussen (43) and Tim David (33) leading the charge. Dwaine Pretorius (2/38) was the leading bowler for Durban. Top knocks from skipper Quinton de Kock (63) and Matthew Breetzke (48*) helped DSG chase down the total with a ball to go and five wickets in hand. Kagiso Rabada's heroics with the ball, figures of 3/22 could not help MICT win the match. -February 3 *Paarl Royals vs Joburg Super Kings This match ended in no result. Paarl Royals was 131/4 in 15 overs before rain stopped the match. Jason Roy (61) played a top knock for Paarl. *Sunrisers Eastern Cape vs Durban Super Giants This match also ended in no result due to rain. SEC was 53/3 before the rain intervened and put an end to the action. -February 4 *MI Cape Town vs Pretoria Capitals Put to bat first by PC, MICT was bundled out for 159 runs. Rassie van der Dussen (51) was the lone warrior for MICT, while Anrich Nortje and James Neesham picked up two wickets each. PC chased down the total in a last-ball thriller, Rilee Rossouw scored a brilliant 40 off 19, which earned him the 'Man of the Match' title. Kusal Mendis also played a valuable knock of 39 runs. Sam Curran (3/26), Odean Smith (2/34), Kagiso Rabada (1/34) and Rashid Khan (1/17) were among the wickets but could not give their side a win. -February 5 *Joburg Super Kings vs Sunrisers Eastern Cape Batting first, JSK put up 160/6 on the board, with captain Faf du Plessis (92) and Reeza Hendricks (40) played some top knocks and Aiden Markram, Sisanda Magala took two wickets each for SEC. SEC was restricted to just 136/9 in their 20 overs. Though Temba Bavuma impressed with a half-century on SA20 debut, he only got support of Markram, who scored 34 off 30 balls. Kyle Simmonds (3/23) was the pick of the bowlers for JSK. *Durban Super Giants vs Pretoria Capitals In an extremely one-sided match, DSG put up 254/4 in 20 overs and was powered by a century from Heinrich Klassen (104 off 44 balls) and knocks from captain Quinton de Kock (43) and Ben McDermott (41). PC was bundled out for just 103 with Junior Dala (3/33), Dwaine Pretorius (2/20) and Wiaan Mulder (2/17) being impressive with the ball. -February 6 *Joburg Super Kings vs MI Cape Town Put to bat first by MICT, JSK put up 189/6 in 20 overs, with Leus du Plooy (81) and Matthew Wade (40) playing some great knocks. Sam Curran and Jofra Archer took two wickets each. Later, Kyle Simmonds and Gerald Coetzee led the bowling with three wickets each and MICT was bundled out for 113. Dewald Brevis top scored with 27 runs. -February 7 *Paarl Royals vs Pretoria Capitals Put to bat first by Paarl, PC put up 226/5 in their 20 overs. Kusal Mendis top scored with 80 while Colin Ingram (41) and Phil Salt (39) also played some quick-fire knocks. Lungi Ngidi took two wickets for Paarl. Chasing 227, Jos Buttler was the lone warrior for Paarl, scoring 70 off 45 balls before his side was restricted to 167/9 in 20 overs. James Neesham was the pick of the bowlers with three wickets while Adil Rashid, Migael Pretorius took two wickets, Anrich Nortje and Eathan Bosch took one wicket each. (ANI)
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