What's new

Sunrisers Eastern Cape (162/4) clinch their third SA20 title with a six-wicket victory over Pretoria Capitals (158/7) [Update post@179]

That was special from Rutherford and Brevis. Don't see too many games where a team comes back to win after being 7-5 at the start of their innings.
 
Boring league with so many boring one sided low scoring matches.
One of the worst leagues in the world.
Only good thing about this league is crowd.

Many people come and watch this joke and they enjoy these one sided matches.
 
Sunrisers Eastern Cape delivered a commanding performance that not only secured the two-time champions’ place at the top of the Betway SA20 table but also dashed MI Cape Town’s Season 4 Playoffs aspirations, edging them out by seven wickets in a thrilling contest at St George’s Park on Sunday.

MI Cape Town required a bonus point victory to stay in contention, but now the final playoff place on offer will be a straight shootout between Joburg Super Kings and Durban’s Super Giants.

DSG’s hopes are hinging on JSK losing to Paarl Royals at Boland Park on Monday. Victory for JSK will see DSG eliminated.

The Royals can still overtake the Sunrisers at the top of the table should they beat JSK, but Adrian Birrell’s side have secured their place in the Qualifier 1 at Kingsmead on Wednesday as they can no longer finish outside the top two on the final Betway SA20 standings.

The seven-wicket victory was the perfect sendoff for the Orange Army as the unofficial 12th man had once again come out in their thousands for the fifth game in succession to support the local team.

They were not disappointed with new Australian import Chris Green delivering an excellent performance with the ball on his Sunrisers debut. The off-spinner, who was born in South Africa, made the most of the spin friendly conditions to finish with 3/29.

He was ably supported by off-spinner James Coles (1/17) as the Sunrisers limited MI Cape Town to 148/6.

Reeza Hendricks was the cornerstone of MI Cape Town’s innings with an undefeated 70 (44 balls, 8x4, 1x6) and George Linde struck a quickfire 30 off 17 balls (4x6), but they needed much more to push for the bonus point win.

The four Player of the Match candidates were Matthew Breetzke, Quinton de Kock, Chris Green and Reeza Hendricks with Breetzke winning 51% of the fan vote.

Sunrisers’ chase centred around Quinton de Kock (56 off 49 balls, 6x4, 2x6) once again with the in-form opener sharing a 109-run partnership for the second wicket with Matthew Breetzke (66 off 55 balls, 8x4).

Both departed with victory in sight to create tension all around the ground, but Jordan Hermann held his nerve to hit the winning runs off the penultimate ball of the match to send St George’s Park into seventh heaven.
 
A late Leus du Plooy six-hitting display and a brilliant spin bowling exhibition has powered Joburg Super Kings into the Betway SA20 playoffs after their bonus point 45-run victory over the Paarl Royals at Boland Park on Monday evening.

With a win required to squeeze Super Kings into the final four, Leus stepped up and blazed an unbeaten 54 off 27 balls (5x4, 3x6) to push the visitors up to 166/5 after 32 runs were added in the final two overs.

Leus, who was a late replacement for the injured Faf du Plessis, turned the game on its head when he bludgeoned Waqar Salamkheil, the Royals’ best bowler to that point, for two sixes and a boundary before Dian Forrester smashed a further maximum off the final ball of the penultimate over.

It swung Monday's game dramatically in favour of Super Kings, who had struggled to generate momentum into their innings after solid but not impactful contributions from Neil Timmers (37 off 39 balls), Michael Pepper and Matthew de Villiers (both 27 off 23 balls).

The Royals were shellshocked by the onslaught and stumbled throughout their run-chase, which was hampered by the absence of captain David Miller through injury.

JSK spin duo Prenelan Subrayen (2/14) and Imran Tahir (2/17) then beat the Royals at their own game. The spin duo exploited the conditions magnificently to deliver a spin class with their cumulative seven overs yielding four wickets for just 31 runs.

The four Player of the Match candidates were Leus du Plooy, Bjorn Fortuin, Lhuan-dre Pretorius and Imran Tahir with Du Plooy winning 62.1% of the fan vote.

Lhuan-dre Pretorius (32 off 25 balls) tried valiantly at the top of the order with before Dan Lawrence (45 off 29 balls) kept the flames burning, but ultimately Royals could only muster 122 all out.

Sunrisers Eastern Cape topped the standings after the group stage matches with 28 points and will face second-placed Pretoria Capitals (24 points) in Qualifier 1 at Kingsmead on Wednesday.

Royals (24 points) and Joburg Super Kings (22 points) will meet in a rematch in the Eliminator at Centurion on Thursday.
 
SA20 seems like a good quality T20 tournament.

They should get rid of those IPL names and IPL jerseys. It makes them look like an Indian colony. Is South Africa an Indian colony? Where is the self-respect? :inti
 
Pretoria Capitals youthful duo Bryce Parsons and Dewald Brevis powered the Pretoria Capitals to a seven-wicket victory over top-ranked Sunrisers Eastern Cape in Qualifier 1 at Kingsmead to book their place in the Betway SA20 Season 4 Final.

Parsons (60 off 44 balls, 4x4, 2x6) delivered a dream all-round performance with a magical spell of 3/10 to restrict Sunrisers to 170/7 before forming a 91-run partnership with Brevis to guide Capitals home.

Brevis delivered on his promise with an electrifying 38-ball 75, which included four boundaries and an amazing seven sixes.

Three of the maximums were consecutive strikes that flew deep into the stands that sent the Capitals to their first final since the inaugural showpiece back in 2023.

Sunrisers will now head to Johannesburg to face the winner of the Eliminator at the Wanderers on Friday evening.

The two-time champions had begun Qualifier 1 in a positive fashion after captain Tristan Stubbs won the toss and elected to bat. Quinton de Kock’s early departure was offset through an 81-run second wicket partnership between Jonny Bairstow and Jordan Hermann to see Sunrisers to 112/1 after 12 overs.

But that’s when Capitals captain Keshav Maharaj (2/24) struck by exacting revenge on Bairstow (50 off 36 balls, 6x4, 1x6) when he trapped the Englishman plumb in front. Bairstow had struck Maharaj for 34 runs in a single over at Centurion during the group match.

Bairstow was soon followed by Hermann (41 off 30 balls) which formed part of a collapse that saw the Sunrisers lose four wickets for just 22 runs.

Parsons was the unlikely chief destroyer during this period as he picked up vital wickets to stem the run flow.

The four Player of the Match candidates were Jonny Bairstow, Dewald Brevis, Keshav Maharaj, Bryce Parsons with the Parsons winning 49.3% of the fan vote.

Capitals’ top-order has struggled throughout the group matches to lay a platform for their powerful hitters lower down the order and once again lost an early wicket when Shai Hope was caught behind off Lewis Gregory.

But Connor Esterhuizen (22 off 19 balls) dropped anchor with Parsons to form a 46-run partnership for the second wicket that allowed Brevis to deliver what could be the defining innings of his Betway SA20 career.
 
Stubbs played a match-losing knock. Sucked all the momentum out of the innings in a bid to impress the selectors, while holding back in-form batters like Breetzke and James Coles.

Maybe it's for the better that he isn't in the South Africa World Cup squad.
 
Youth and experience combined in perfect harmony for Paarl Royals to send Joburg Super Kings crashing out in the Betway SA20 Eliminator at rousing Centurion on Thursday evening.

Teenager Lhuan-dre Pretorius starred with the bat with last season’s leading run-scorer coming to the fore when it mattered most as the Royals defeated JSK by 36 runs.

The powerful left-hander put a disappointing second season behind him with 34-ball 51 that formed the bedrock of Royals’ imposing 210/5.

The rest of the Royals batters all chipped in from opener Kyle Verreynne (30 off 15 balls) through to Dan Lawrence (36 off 23 balls), Sikandar Raza (35 off 19 balls) and Asa Tribe (30 not out off 16 balls).

Joburg Super Kings run-chase never left the starting blocks with 36-year-old fast bowler Hardus Viljoen turning back the clock to send down a rasping opening spell.

Viljoen (3/24) hurried up all the JSK batters with his pace to send Neil Timmers and Matthew de Villiers back to the pavilion within the Powerplay.

JSK certainly missed the experience of their injured captain Faf du Plessis and Rilee Rossouw during this period as left-arm spinner Bjorn Fortuin and the competition’s leading wicket-taker Ottneil Baartman also chipped in with a wicket apiece to reduce Super Kings to 40/4.

Stand-in captain James Vince and Wiaan Mulder attempted to rebuild JSK’s innings with a 58-run partnership for the fifth wicket.

It was brought to a close by another impressive Royals teenager Nqobani Mokoena, who outsmarted Vince with an excellent slower ball to clean bowl the Englishman.

The four Player of the Match candidates were Bjorn Fortuin, Lhuan-dre Pretorius, Asa Tribe and Hardus Viljoen with the left-handed opener winning 53% of the fan vote.

Mulder (41 off 27 balls) attempted to keep the dwindling JSK flame flickering, but he too was outdone by the brilliance of Baartman than ended all hopes.

The Royals now travel down the NI1 South to the Wanderers to face Sunrisers Eastern Cape on Friday evening in Qualifier 2.

The winner will have the prized opportunity to head down to Cape Town to face Pretoria Capitals in Sunday’s grand Final at Newlands.
 
Sunrisers Eastern Cape stormed into their fourth successive Betway SA20 Final to set up a rematch with Pretoria Capitals at Newlands on Sunday.

The two-time champions comfortably chased down Royals’ 113/7 with seven wickets and 50 balls to spare.

Young Englishman James Coles led the way with another superb all-round performance. Coles snared 1/15 from his four overs of off spin before breaking the back of the run chase with an undefeated 45 off just 19 balls.

On a surface where precious few batters could counter the prodigious turn and bounce on offer, Coles targeted Dan Lawrence’s first over by smashing 21 runs to bite a chunk out of the target.

Coles shared an unbroken 65-run partnership with Matthew Breetzke (19 not out) to seal the Royals’ fate after Quinton de Kock has blitzed a rapid 25 off only 12 balls upfront.

The 21-year-old had earlier combined perfectly with Senuran Muthusamy (3/15) to set up the game for Sunrisers.

The spin twins claimed four wickets for 30 runs from their allotted eight overs to restrict the Royals.

It was a struggle from the outset for the Royals after stand-in captain Dan Lawrence won the toss and elected to bat.

Lhuan-dre Pretorius could not build on his form from the Eliminator and fell early when he chipped seamer Lutho Sipamla to Sunrisers Eastern Cape captain Tristan Stubbs at mid-off.

From thereon it was a battle for survival with Kyle Verreynne laying down anchor as the wickets continued to fall regularly at the other end.

The four Player of the Match candidates were James Coles, Bjorn Fortuin, Senuran Muthusamy, Kyle Verreynne with Coles winning 61.6% of the fan vote.

Verreynne carried his bat for a workmanlike 52 not out off 46 balls, but had precious little support from the remaining Royals batter as Sunrisers’ spinners put the squeeze on.

Royals’ West Indian import Rovman Powell, who only arrived in South Africa a couple of days ago, could not make an impact as he lasted just two balls before Muthusamy found his outside edge.

Sunrisers’ seven-wicket win has set up a repeat of the inaugural Betway SA20 Final back in 2023.

Adrian Birrell’s team will be seeking to reclaim the trophy they surrendered to MI Cape Town last season in a bid for an unprecedented third title, while the Capitals will be aiming to win the trophy for the first time.

The two sides have met three times already this season with the Sunrisers holding the advantage 2-1.
 
Heck of a run-chase by SEC after Brevis masterclass. Stubbs and Breetzke showed their class under pressure. Future of South African cricket looks very bright and this competition is doing them alot of good.

From an entertainment view-point this is probably my favorite league to watch outside the PSL. The quality of cricket is very high and there were a number of matches this season that were very fun to watch. Not a fan of the idea of too many T20 leagues but if you have to watch one, let it be this one.
 
Sunrisers Eastern Cape secured their third SA20 title with a six-wicket win over Pretoria Capitals, overcoming a brilliant century from Dewald Brevis in the final.

After being asked to bat first, Pretoria Capitals posted 158 for 7, powered by a superb 101 off 56 balls from Brevis, which included seven sixes. However, he received little support from the rest of the lineup, with only Bryce Parsons (30 off 30) and Sherfane Rutherford (17 off 11) reaching double figures. Marco Jansen was the standout with the ball for Sunrisers, claiming 3 for 10.

That lack of backing for the 22-year-old Brevis proved decisive, as Sunrisers chased down the 159-run target with four balls remaining at Newlands. Matthew Breetzke and Tristan Stubbs anchored the chase with unbeaten half-centuries.

Sunrisers found themselves in early trouble at 48 for 4 in the ninth over, including the early loss of Jonny Bairstow for a golden duck in the first over to Lungi Ngidi. But South Africa internationals Breetzke and Stubbs turned the match around with a magnificent unbroken fifth-wicket partnership of 114 runs from 65 balls.

Needing 42 runs from the final three overs, Sunrisers struck 21 runs off the 18th over bowled by Gideon Peters and followed it up with 12 off the 19th, bowled by Ngidi. With nine required from the final over, Stubbs finished the chase in style, smashing two successive sixes off Bryce Parsons.

Breetzke remained unbeaten on 68 from 49 balls, while Stubbs ended on 62 not out from 41, sealing another memorable title triumph for Sunrisers Eastern Cape.
 
Back
Top