Cornelius Johannes (CJ) de Villiers may be the hero of the Diamond Eagles versus Sussex Sharks Champions League Twenty20 match at the Feroz Shah Kotla stadium yesterday.
Cornelius Johannes (CJ) de Villiers may be the hero of the Diamond Eagles versus Sussex Sharks Champions League Twenty20 match at the Feroz Shah Kotla stadium yesterday. But, the architect behind Eagles' thrilling win was Rilee Rossouw.
He is touted as the next big thing in South African cricket having scored three centuries and five half-centuries in 13 first-class matches at an average of 38.91.
However, Rossouw,u00a0 who is also the youngest South African to score 1000 first-class runs, was desperate to set his T20 career right.
The Eagles' attacking left-hander has been less successful in the game's latest format with the highest score of 11 in as many games. But that changed yesterday with the 20-year-old Rossouw scoring 65 off 62 balls in Eagles' win to throw Sussex out of the competition in a thriller.
Eagles won the match in the Super Over, thanks to CJ de Villiers' superb bowling after the match was tied.
Needing nine runs to win, Sussex' batsmen stumbled to CJ's good length deliveries.
"This innings has certainly given me a lot of confidence. It is always good to score runs and it will help me in the next rounds," Rossouw said.
Skipper Boeta Dippenaar too lavished praised on the young left-hand batsman. "Rilee is the best young prospect for South Africa. I am happy the way he played today," he said.
Sussex Sharks skipper Mike Yardy was disappointed with the outcome but did not fail to acknowledge Rossouw's innings.
"Rilee was brilliant. I think he timed the ball better than anyone on this wicket," said Yardy.
Rossouw revealed that he has already signed for the IPL team Royal Challengers Bangalore. Watch out for him.
