Twitter Reactions: Skipper JJ Smuts' 73-run knock helps the Giants chase 187

The Cape Town Blitz, after pulling off a wonderful victory against the Durban Heat, have themselves to blame for the loss against Nelson Mandela Bay Giants. Their top-order provided them with a good start after they opted to bat first. However, none of their batsmen could go on to get big scores. Most of their batsmen got out in their 20s or 30s. Quinton de Kock scored 39 runs in just 18 balls to take the team off to a flyer.

The likes of Janneman Malan and Marques Ackerman scored 31 and 26 runs respectively. Liam Livingstone also got off to a start and scored 39 runs. However, none of their batsmen could stay in the middle until the end. The team should have easily got to a score in excess of 200. But they completely lost their way in the last five overs. In the end, they had to settle with 186/9 which seemed slightly below par.

JJ Smuts plays a captain’s knock

Nelson Mandela Bay Giants didn’t get off to the best possible start in the chase. Their openers Jason Roy and Matthew Breetzke were dismissed for 1 and 0 runs respectively. However, at this stage, JJ Smuts took the onus upon himself. He played a perfect captain’s knock and led his team from the front. The 31-year-old scored 73 runs off 51 balls before he got out. But before his dismissal, he managed to put his side in a good position so that they could complete the chase.

Towards the end, Marco Marais played a gem of a knock under pressure. He remained unbeaten on 40 runs off only 20 balls to take his team home with four balls and five wickets to spare. Chris Morris also played a good knock and remained unbeaten on 19 off 9 balls towards the end. Dale Steyn picked up two wickets and was one of the better bowlers in the innings. Every Blitz bowler conceded over 9 runs per over which was disappointing.

Twitterati enjoyed the efforts from JJ Smuts. The Cape Town Blitz fans, however, were extremely disappointed with the batting efforts. They felt that the batsmen should have applied themselves better and posted a bigger score on the board.

Here is how Twitterati reacted: