The Sunrisers Eastern Cape’s bid to win an unprecedented hat-trick of Betway SA20 championship titles remains on track.
The Sunrisers beat the Joburg Super Kings by 32 runs in a hugely-entertaining Eliminator at Centurion on Tuesday evening. They will now meet the Paarl Royals in Qualifier 2 at the same venue on Thursday.
Captain Aiden Markram’s love affair with the Pretoria ground continued with the skipper’s 62 not out off 40 balls (5×4, 2×6) setting up the Sunrisers’ 184/6.
The Super Kings’ run-chase stuttered throughout with the Joburg side unable to put together any meaningful partnerships as they slipped to 152/7 in their 20 overs.
The Eliminator was virtually decided in two separate overs of each innings.
The Sunrisers’ innings was delicately poised on 149/5 with 12 balls remaining when Markram and Marco Jansen (23 not out off 12 balls) bashed 29 runs off Lutho Sipamla’s penultimate over.
Sipamla conceded three sixes, two boundaries and delivered a no ball to finish with the most expensive figures of 0/72 in Betway SA29 history.
In contrast, the Super Kings were on track at 91/3 after 12 overs requiring 94 from 48 balls with set batters Jonny Bairstow and Wihan Lubbe at the crease.
Sunrisers skipper rolled the dice and opted to bowl out seamer Craig Overton. The decision reaped the desired rewards with Overton sending down a miraculous double-wicket maiden over by dismissing both Lubbe and Moeen Ali as the Super Kings slumped to 91/5.
The Super Kings’ last remaining hope was Bairstow and the Englishman seemed ready for the challenge when he showed great innovation to take two boundaries and a six off Liam Dawson.
But the left-arm spinner held his nerve to clean bowl his compatriot when Bairstow (37 off 17 balls) attempted another reverse-sweep.
There was no way back for the Super Kings after Bairstow’s dismissal as they were left to contemplate a third playoff defeat in a row.
“Lot of credit to the boys. We haven’t put a complete game of cricket throughout and tonight was the closest we got,” said Markram.
“The bowlers were brilliant, the ball came on even better under lights so lot of credit to our guys. We saw the odd one react differently and that’s why we wanted to wait before using the spinners. It is all about execution on a surface like this.
“It was a tricky one to pace our innings, but we hit a phase where (Tristan) Stubbs and I got into the groove, and then Marco chipped in with a valuable knock.”
Landfill Max
Dirk Nannes has represented both Australia and Netherlands in International Cricket.
Fire Sass
The Nelson is a term used to refer to a score of 111 by an individual player or a team. This is also used for multiples of 111, such as 222 (double Nelson), 333 (triple Nelson), and so on. The Nelson is considered unlucky because the number 111 is similar in appearance to a bail-less wicket. Players and fans believe that something bad or unlucky would occur when a player or team reaches that score.