The cricket carnival returned to South Africa with the inaugural edition of SA20 got underway at the Newlands on Tuesday, January 10. MI Cape Town locked horns with Paarl Royals in the opening game of the tournament, and it was Royal’s English white-ball superstar Jos Buttler, who brought up the first maximum of the promising tournament after scooping compatriot Jofra Archer with utter disdain.
MI Capetown’s Rashid Khan won the toss and was elected to bowl first in the opening match of the tournament. Jofra Archer made his much-awaited comeback to competitive cricket in this fixture after a dreadful 2022 that was marred by several injuries.
WATCH – Charith Asalanka Fes Trolled For Not Reviewing Despite Not Nicking The Ball
While he dished out a superb maiden wicket over on his return to competitive cricket, his compatriot and white-ball skipper Jos Buttler played a scoop shot for a nonchalant six over the fine leg boundary in the fifth over of the match.
Incidentally, this was the first six of the much-awaited inaugural edition of the tournament. Buttler’s trademark shot over the fine leg fence even impressed the former English cricket Kevin Pietersen, who was on commentary duty at the time.
WATCH – Virat Kohli Stares Hardik Pandya Hard For Lazy Running
Here is the video of the shot from Jos Buttler:
JUST JOS BOSSING AROUND 💥
📹 First maximum of the @SA20_League. Expect many more, @MICapeTown 🆚 @paarlroyals 👉🏻 LIVE NOW on #JioCinema & #Sports18 📺📲#SA20League #SA20onJioCinema #SA20onSports18 pic.twitter.com/m0umPMVPVS
— JioCinema (@JioCinema) January 10, 2023
The England white-ball skipper, who recently helped the team to win their second T20 World Cup title in Australia, also went on to register the maiden half-century of the tournament. Although he wasn’t at his fluent best on a surface that wasn’t conducive to quick runs, his half-century coupled with skipper David Miller’s combative innings, helped the Paarl Royals to a competitive score of 142 runs with the loss of seven wickets in their 20 overs. Jofra Archer returned with brilliant figures of 3/27 in his four overs.
