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The Sri Lankan fast bowler Nuwan Thushara, boasting a delivery action similar to the legendary Lasith Malinga, picked up back-to-back wickets with searing yorkers on his debut for MI Cape Town in his SA20 debut. The 29-year-old’s key scalps helped his team restrict Paarl Royals to 162/3 after a fantastic start at Boland Park.
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The captain of MI Cape Town, Kieran Pollard, won the toss on a sultry afternoon in Paarl before sending the opposition in. His decision didn’t prove to be right as the English opening duo of Jos Buttler and Jason Roy scored at a brisk pace in the powerplay, taking Paarl Royals to 60/0 in the first six overs.
Although the scoring rate slowed down a touch in the middle overs, Buttler and Roy completed their respective fifties while registering a 100-run stand for the first wicket. The leg-spinner Thomas Kaber picked up the key wicket of Jason Roy for 68 off 46 with eight fours and one maximum to bring some much-needed respite to the MI Cape Town bowlers.
Watch the video of Nuwan Thushara picking back-to-back wickets here:
Shortly after, when the scorecard read 140/1 in 17 overs with Jos Buttler looking poised to take Paarl Royals to a formidable score on a slow pitch, Nuwan Thushara returned to the attack to dismiss him emphatically with a yorker smashing into off stump. On the very next ball, he trapped Fabian Allen right in front of the stumps to bring MI Cape Town back into the contest.
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David Miller, the captain of Paarl Royals, had to retire hurt for 24 off 20 after suffering a problem in his right leg in the penultimate over of the innings, which derailed his team’s momentum completely. Nuwan Thushara registered figures of 1/27 in his four-over spell for MI Cape Town, delivering a clinical last over to keep the total just around 160.
