Andries Gous scored an unbeaten 90 to lead Edinburgh Castle Rockers to a seven-wicket win over Belfast Wolves in the final of the inaugural European T20 Premier League at Malahide, Dublin, on September 20. The Rockers chased down 151 in 18.4 overs and won the title with eight balls remaining.
Tim Tector’s 84 Lifts Belfast Wolves to 150/5
Edinburgh Castle Rockers won the toss and chose to bowl first. Trent Boult removed Paul Stirling for eight in the third over, with Jack Jarvis taking the catch at cover, and Wolves reached 41 for 1 at the end of the powerplay.
Tim Tector anchored the innings with 84 off 62 balls, which included nine fours and two sixes. He reached fifty off 38 balls, while Mark Watt, Mitchell Santner and Tom Curran kept the scoring down and limited Wolves to 76 runs in the first 11 overs. Devon Conway made 29 off 24 balls and added 63 for the second wicket with Tector before JJ Smuts had him caught by Gareth Delany. Wolves reached 100 runs in 13.4 overs.
Watt bowled Glenn Maxwell for three, and Boult dismissed Lorcan Tucker for six. Curran bowled Tector off the last ball of the Wolves innings, and Harry Manenti finished unbeaten on 16 off 14 balls.
Trent Boult and Mark Watt Combine for Three Wickets
Boult finished with 2 for 21 from four overs, and Watt took 1 for 21 from three. Together the two conceded 42 runs in seven overs. Boult conceded one run in his first over with the new ball, and he bowled a series of yorkers in the 15th over that cost five runs. He gave away five more in the 18th over, where he mixed slower balls with yorkers.
Curran took 1 for 33 from four overs, and Smuts took 1 for 19 from two. Santner went wicketless and gave away 29 runs in his four overs.
Andries Gous’ Unbeaten 90 Guides Rockers to ETPL Title
Ross Adair hit 23 off 14 balls with two fours and two sixes, but his younger brother Mark Adair had him caught by Tucker in the third over. Rockers scored 54 for 1 in the powerplay, with Gous hitting two fours and a six off Mark Adair in the fifth over. Gous and Smuts added 53 for the second wicket.
Smuts made 15 off 23 balls before Matthew Humphreys bowled him, and the Rockers then went 29 balls without a boundary. They needed 64 off 48 balls after 12 overs, with Maxwell, Humphreys, Gavin Hoey and Fred Klaassen conceding 15 runs across four overs.
Gous ended the drought with two boundaries off Hoey in the 13th over and reached fifty off 36 balls. He took 11 runs off Chris Jordan in the 16th over. Brandon McMullen scored 17 off 12 balls and added 60 with Gous for the third wicket before Hoey caught and bowled him.
Gous finished on 90 off 61 balls with eight fours and four sixes. He ended the chase with a six and a four off Maxwell, and the final ball beat Jordan at wide long-on. Mitchell Santner, the Rockers captain, finished on 2 not out. Gous received the Player of the Match award, while Faf du Plessis of the Dockers won Player of the Series.
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