DSG vs PC | Shai Hope and Lungi Ngidi star as Capitals pull off crucial win against Super Giants

‌Pretoria Capitals won their second game in the SA20 2025-26 campaign, beating Durban’s Super Giants in Durban by 15 runs on Wednesday. Wicketkeeper-batter Shai Hope and the pace bowling duo of Lungi Ngidi and Gideon Peters were the architects of the crucial away victory as they went past the home side to be fourth in the points table with 11 points from six games. Meanwhile, the Super Giants remained fifth with eight points from a solitary win in six matches.

After being put into bat at Kingsmead, Hope led the visitors with an aggressive display from the word go. The West Indies skipper smashed a four and a six off Kwena Maphaka in the first over before repeating the feat off skipper Aiden Markram in the next. He went after Maphaka yet again with a 14-run over as the Capitals ended the powerplay at 58/0. Hope continued to find the boundaries even after the fielding restrictions were removed, reaching his fifty, off 34 balls, in the 10th over. The wicketkeeper-batter and Connor Esterhuizen (37) extended their opening stand to 101 runs before David Wiese removed the latter in the last ball of the next over. However, Hope continued in the same vein, finding boundaries at alarming frequency to bring up the three-figure mark in the 17th over. He was not done yet, tonking two fours and six in the next as the visitors went on to end at 201/4. The Windies white-ball skipper remained unbeaten on 118 of just 69 balls, with nine sixes and nine fours in his innings, while Maphaka, Wiese, and Gerald Coetzee had to contend with a wicket each.

In return, the opening duo of Kane Williamson and Marques Ackerman started cautiously before opening up with an 18-run over off Ngidi. The Kiwi batter hit a maximum in the first ball before Ackerman (27) ended the over with a six and a four. With off-spinner Roston Chase coming on for his second over in the powerplay, the southpaw took him on with consecutive boundaries. But the Windies Test team skipper had the last laugh, getting him out in the last ball of the same over. Though fellow opener Williamson also departed in the next over, Jos Buttler ensured that the home side ended the powerplay on a high, at 58/2, with three boundaries in his first six balls. The former England skipper was involved in key stands with skipper Markram and Heinrich Klaasen as the side went past the 100 mark in the 12th over. The wicketkeeper-batter brought up his fifty, in style, in just 30 balls with a six off Ngidi in the 14th, before upping the ante further. With 65 runs needed off the last five, and Buttler and Klaasen at the crease, it was advantage Super Giants with seven wickets also in hand. But the hosts lost their way with Peters picking up two wickets in the next over and Ngidi making history an over later. The pacer recorded the first-ever hat-trick in the history of SA20, sending back Wiese, Sunil Narine, and Coetzee to seize the advantage back. Though Buttler’s final push with two sixes and a four off Lizaad Williams in the penultimate over took the side within touching distance, the visitors bowled them out for 186 with two balls to spare. The wicketkeeper-batter remained unbeaten on 97 off just 52 balls, with nine fours and five sixes, while Peters and Ngidi finished with 3/35 and 3/39, respectively, in their four-over spells.