CLT20 Results: Neesham Trumps De Kock Century as Otago Edge Highveld Lions in Super Over Thriller

Quinton De Kock thought he had done his bit, smashing a brilliant 63-ball 109 to propel the Highveld Lions to a strong total in their CLT20 match against the Otago Volts.

But Jimmy Neesham (52, 25b, 2x4, 4x6) played an absolute blinder for the Otago Volts, when the match looked dead and buried, to force the match into a Super Over, before doing it again with the bat and the ball to give his side a quite stunning win.

Otago posted 13 runs in their Super Over, courtesy Brendon McCullum and Neesham, with the latter then restricting the Lions to 13, and going through because they had hit one more boundary than the Lions -- McCullum's six in the Super Over.

Asked to bat first at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur, the Lions rode on De Kock's to post 167 for four in their 20 overs.

The Otago Volts, who have been in stunning form in this tournament, looked out of the game for the bulk of their innings before Neesham's special innings saw them tie the game in dramatic style.

The result means the Highveld Lions are out of the tournament having picked up just two points in three matches, while the Otago Volts are in the box seat for a semifinal place with ten points, leaving a very nervous Mumbai Indians side twiddling their thumbs and hoping for some favours later on.

The Volts reply in the 20 overs was not the greatest at the top as last match's centurion extraordinaire fell in just the second over, holing out to mid-on off Ethan O'Reilly.

The Otago Volts' other danger man, skipper Brendon McCullum, then hit a drive straight to mid-off in the fourth over as the unbeaten Kiwi side struggled to chase the target.

Hamish Rutherford has always looked quite good for Otago, whenever he has been in the middle, even if it hasn't been for too long.

There were a couple of elegant shots in there again, as the son of former New Zealand international Ken raced to 32 (21b, 3x4, 2x6) before an outside edge off Imran Tahir's bowling saw him walking back.

The Otago Volts were on 78 for three at that point, needing another 90 runs from the final ten overs. The onus was on Ryan Ten Doeschate and Derek De Boorder to take Otago home, but Lonwabo Tsotsobe stepped up to remove the dangerous batsman and with it giving the Lions a huge edge going into the final overs.

It was five down soon after with De Boorder as well getting out, holing out in the deep off Tahir (two for 28).

Nathan McCullum did not trouble the scorers too much, leaving Neesham, who has been quite impressive in this tournament, and Ian Butler to pull a few rabbits out of the hat.

The score after 16 overs - 118 for six -- was not too dissimilar to where the Lions were at in their first innings, with Otago needing another 50 runs from 24 balls.

The Lions, though, were only three down in their innings at that point, before scoring 50 from the last four overs, but Neesham took it upon himself try and pull one out of nowhere, taking Tsotsobe for 18 runs in the 17^th.

That meant the Volts needed 32 from the last three, with Neesham continuing on his merry way despite Sohail Tanvir picking up Butler. The Volts scored 21 off the next two overs, which meant 11 were needed from the final six balls.

Neesham smashed a six off the first ball of Tanvir to make it five from five, before it went to the Super Over.

Earlier, De Kock's century was the cornerstone behind Lions' total. The enormity of the innings was spelt out by the fact that the rest of the team scored just 58 runs in 57 balls combined, with De Kock alone making 109 from 63.

The start was not the best from the Highveld Lions, with both batsmen, De Kock included, struggling to find the boundaries in the powerplay overs.

The Lions managed just 31 runs from the first six overs, and something had to give - it just happened to be De Kock's wooden blade that decided to do the talking.

Rassie Van Der Dussen's bat did not di much talking, with the fellow opener falling for a scratchy 24-ball 17, while Temba Bavuma (13) and Alviro Petersen (0) didn't hang around for too long either, with both batsmen falling off consecutive deliveries to Nick Beard (two for 31).

Jean Symes at least managed a 15-ball 20, as De Kock (109, 63b, 10x4, 5x6) took over in the final stretch, leading the Lions from 97 for three in 15 overs to 167 for four at the end of the innings.