Ottneil Baartman produced an incredible performance in Paarl Royals’ six-wicket win over Pretoria Capitals in the 2025/26 SA20 on Thursday (January 15).
Ottneil Baartman becomes second bowler to take SA20 hat-trick
Overlooked for the T20 World Cup, Baartman continued his SA20 form with a hat-trick and a five-wicket haul in the Royals’ commanding victory over Pretoria. His spell of 5-16 helped the side climb to the top of the league table and book their spot in the playoffs.
Batting first, Pretoria Capitals’ innings couldn’t pick up steam, with Baartman dismissing Connor Esterhuizen and Jordan Cox with his first two deliveries of the game in the fourth over. Wihan Lubbe avoided a hat-trick, but couldn’t hang around for long with Pretoria going down to 43-3 in 6.5 overs.
Match 25, Pretoria Capitals vs Paarl Royals
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Shai Hope (25 off 34), Dewald Brevis (21 off 20) and Sherfane Rutherford (29 off 20) showed some resistance, but their efforts weren’t enough as the team lost six wickets by the 17th over with just 110 on the board. Baartman, bowling his last and the penultimate over of the innings, then closed down any hopes of a respectable total.
On the first delivery, he had Andre Russell (15 off 11), who was starting to look threatening, caught at long off. Lizaad Williams then chopped one onto his stumps before Baartman had Lungi Ngidi caught and bowled to complete his hat-trick and a five-wicket haul. This was the second hat-trick in SA20 history.
Interestingly, Ngidi was the first bowler to pick up a hat-trick in the tournament, doing so earlier this season against Durban’s Super Giants. Paarl, in reply, chased down the 128-run total with six wickets and 29 deliveries to spare.
The five wickets against Pretoria took Baartman’s season tally to 16 wickets in just five games at an average of 9.43, strike-rate of 7 and economy of 8.08. He is currently the top-wicket taker this term, three more than teammate Sikandar Raza, and also leads the all-time SA20 wicket-taking chart with 57, three more than second-placed Marco Jansen in 11 fewer innings.
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