The Paarl Rocks played against the Nelson Mandela Bay Giants without fast bowler Hardus Viljoen, and Faf du Plessis hilariously explained why.
Viljoen was absent after marrying Rocks teammate Faf du Plessis’ sister, Rhemi Rynners, the evening prior.
‘Hardus is not playing. He is lying in bed with my sister. They got married yesterday,’ Du Plessis told commentator Ed Rainsford in a comical moment before the start of the match.
Faf du Plessis “Hardus Viljoen is not playing today cos he is lying in bed with my sister. They got married yesterday.” This is hilarious ??? pic.twitter.com/1AwHQnrUtC
— Mazher Arshad (@MazherArshad) December 8, 2019
The Paarl Rocks beat the Giants by 12 runs in Sunday’s Mzansi Super League fixture at Boland Park. The result pushed the Rocks to first position in the 2019 tournament’s six-team standings.
The outcome also ensured the Paarl franchise will host the final on 16 December – against the Giants or Tshwane Spartans.
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Pursuing a target of 169, the Giants reached an insufficient final total of 156/6.
Opener Ben Dunk was solid en route to 27, while half-centurion Heino Kuhn and the big-hitting Marco Marais refused to go down without a fight throughout, but lacked enough support.
Rocks wrist-spinner Tabraiz Shamsi, meanwhile, capitalised with the key wickets of Dunk and Dutch international Ryan ten Doeschate.
Earlier, wicketkeeper-batsman Kyle Verreynne spearheaded the Rocks to 168/5. Verreynne was well supported by Sri Lanka all-rounder Isuru Udana – and was particularly fruitful during seamer Chris Morris’ closing over.
The right-handed Verreynne deployed premeditated paddle strokes to collect three boundaries off Morris’ challenging lines and lengths.
Photo: Twitter