Nono Pongolo celebrates after hitting two sixes to give Jozi Stars a dramatic win.
Nono Pongolo produced two stunning match winning performances to guide his franchise side Jozi Stars into the final of South Africa’s inaugural Mzansi Super League (MSL) and an eventual comprehensive eight-wicket win over the Cape Town Blitz in front of a 12,000 Newlands crowd.
The 29-year old all-rounder, who spent the 2008 and 2009 seasons at Ventnor and subsequently played for Hambledon, maintained a relatively low profile in the final, sending down two overs and catching out Farhaan Behardien as Cape Town struggled to 113-7, a target Stars’ breezed past.
But in the lead-up MSL games, he took a career-best 6-20 against Tshwane Spartans (England one-day captain Eoin Morgan was among his victims), before becoming the six-hitting hero of Stars’ dramatic one-wicket win over Kyle Abbott’s Durban Heat.
Needing 12 runs to win off two deliveries to pass Durban’s 128 (Kagiso Rabada 3-29), Pongolo crashed consecutive sixes off Marchant de Lange to pull off a miraculous one-wicket win, which earned Stars’ a home tie in the semi-finals.
Pongolo first hammered a waist-high full toss for a six over backward square in the penultimate ball of the 20th over, but the umpire called it a no-ball for height.
With the equation drastically changed - from 12 off two balls to only five off two - Pongolo clattered the next delivery, a free hit, over fine leg to script a remarkable come-from-behind win that left the Kingsmead crowd shocked.
Earlier this season, the former Southern Premier League all-rounder helped his Gauteng provincial side with the Africa T20 Cup and in late October took a then professional best 6-22 against Free State.
The 29-year old all-rounder, who spent the 2008 and 2009 seasons at Ventnor and subsequently played for Hambledon, maintained a relatively low profile in the final, sending down two overs and catching out Farhaan Behardien as Cape Town struggled to 113-7, a target Stars’ breezed past.
But in the lead-up MSL games, he took a career-best 6-20 against Tshwane Spartans (England one-day captain Eoin Morgan was among his victims), before becoming the six-hitting hero of Stars’ dramatic one-wicket win over Kyle Abbott’s Durban Heat.
Needing 12 runs to win off two deliveries to pass Durban’s 128 (Kagiso Rabada 3-29), Pongolo crashed consecutive sixes off Marchant de Lange to pull off a miraculous one-wicket win, which earned Stars’ a home tie in the semi-finals.
Pongolo first hammered a waist-high full toss for a six over backward square in the penultimate ball of the 20th over, but the umpire called it a no-ball for height.
With the equation drastically changed - from 12 off two balls to only five off two - Pongolo clattered the next delivery, a free hit, over fine leg to script a remarkable come-from-behind win that left the Kingsmead crowd shocked.
Earlier this season, the former Southern Premier League all-rounder helped his Gauteng provincial side with the Africa T20 Cup and in late October took a then professional best 6-22 against Free State.
Nono Pongolo bowling for Gauteng in front of an appreciative Bullring crowd. The dog was missing ...
