CJ strikes, Eagles soar
The Diamond Eagles ensured that both South African sides in the Champions League made it through to the second round but they had to endure the heart-stopping tension of a one-over bowl-off against the Sussex Sharks to progress in Delhi on Tuesday night.
The hero with the ball was seamer CJ de Villiers, who, defending the nine runs the Eagles had scored in their extra over, uprooted the off-stumps of Dwayne Smith and Rory Hamilton-Brown with his first two deliveries to end the contest.
The Eagles' victory meant they eliminated the Sharks and progressed to the second round along with the NSW Blues, from Group B.
The other South African side, the Cape Cobras, had already sewed up a second-phase slot by winning both their Group C games last week.
The South African teams will be competing in different four-team mini-leagues in the second round, so will only meet up in the knockout stages which follow, should they both stay in the competition.
The Cobras will face Australian side the Victorian Bushrangers in Bangalore on Saturday and the Delhi Daredevils in Delhi on Monday.
For the Eagles the second round comprises a two-match stint in Hyderabad, with the opponents to be determined by the last clash of the first round on Wednesday between the Deccan Chargers and Trinidad and Tobago. The Eagles' second-round matches will be played on Friday and Sunday.
Earlier in Tuesday's match the batting hero for the Eagles had been 20-year-old left-hander Rilee Rossouw, who scored a pivotal 65 off 62 balls as his side chased 120 to win.
On a slow pitch, it was by no means an easy target, but rising star Rossouw's composure at the crease suggested the Eagles would get home comfortably. Needing 48 runs off 54 balls with all 10 wickets in hand suggested the Bloemfontein boys would cruise it but once opener Adrian McLaren (16 off 28 balls) went, a mini-collapse ensued.
And when Rossouw, who hit seven fours and two sixes, top-edged an attempted big hit to be caught by wicketkeeper Andy Hodd to depart with 14 needed off eight balls, some nail-chewing commenced in the SA team's dugout.
One of man-of-the-match Rossouw's sixes travelled 103 metres, with only the Cobras' JP Duminy bettering that at the tournament, with hits measured at 104 and 105 metres. What makes the Eagles opener's performance on Tuesday night more noteworthy is that his previous best score in the 20-overs format was 11.
The Eagles needed 12 runs off the final over by Yasir Arafat and Ryan McLaren clubbed a four to wide mid-on to ensure a tie on 119 runs apiece.
Then it was time for the 23-year-old De Villiers' eliminator over heroics, after his fine 2-20 in four overs in the initial game.
In the sudden-death climax anything can happen, but the Eagles have had experience of the phenomenon. In February they came through another bowl-off, against the Warriors in the semi-finals of the domestic Pro20 competition.
The Cobras returned to Bangalore on Wednesday and by the time they face the strong Bushrangers line-up on Saturday they will have a much clearer idea of what is required from them to make the semi-finals. Victory in one of their two second-round matches could be enough to clinch them a last-four spot.
The Bushrangers will play the Royal Challengers Bangalore on thursday and should the Indian side win that match, things could be made easier for the Cobras.
The Cape side will have had a week off by their next game but they had hard three-hour workouts on Monday and Tuesday to keep them focused.
The team's batting has been its strong suit at the Champions League, with an undefeated Andrew Puttick century and 99 not out from JP Duminy pushing them to first-round wins.
Coach Shukri Conrad is hoping a third batsman plays a blinder in Saturday's game, with Herschelle Gibbs, Henry Davids and Justin Ontong all capable of playing a match-winning innings.
"Henry has got starts and Herschelle (one run in two innings) is not getting down on himself," Conrad added. "Let's hope the big one is around the corner for him."