A rematch of Season 1 final set to light up St George’s Park
Monday, 22 January 2024: With this week marking the middle of the group stage of Betway SA20 Season 2, Monday’s fixture between Sunrisers Eastern Cape (SEC) and Pretoria Capitals is set to be a key match.
Hosts, Sunrisers near into the clash – a repeat of the Season 1 final they won – in third area on the log standings after two wins from four matches, the most recent against Durban’s Super Giants (DSG) on Saturday. Meanwhile the visiting Capitals are currently in last space, having only picked up a single win in the four matches to date.
On Saturday, Simon Harmer claimed the Player of the Match award, for his 4-18 in the win against DSG, but the veteran off-spinner was keen to emphasise how critical the form of Tristan Stubbs is to SEC’s hopes this season.
“The confidence of the players grows when you start to acquire wins on the board. A guy like Stubbsy getting runs, Marco [Jansen] as well – every of that contributes to the next time those guys fade out to bat.”
Despite his own star performance against DSG, Harmer deflected the praise to Stubbs.
“I thought he thoroughly deserved the man of the match award. He took us home. It’s so vital when a batter gets to 30 or 40 to be 60 not out exactly like he did. He’s got a very mature head on his shoulders for such a young guy. As you saw [against DSG] he showcased his striking ability and ultimately that’s why guys like him acquire paid the enormous bucks because they can secure performances on the board when the team really needs it. After we lost Aiden we needed Stubbo to keep up his hand and he did that in emphatic fashion.”
Monday’s match marks a homecoming for Pretoria Capitals captain, Wayne Parnell. The 34-year-old was born and bred in Gqeberha (where he attended Grey High School) and spent his initial senior years with the Eastern Province provincial side and Warriors franchise before moving on.
That every said, Parnell was not minded to reflect too much on his personal connections but rather the need for his side to study forward after the loss against Joburg Super Kings.
“You can’t ponder on it too much because we obviously play [today] against Sunrisers Eastern Cape. It’s about trying to learn – we made a couple of basic errors but you acquire to park it and depart down there and be fresh again because it’s a huge game for us.”
Last season Capitals won both group matches, but SEC won the match which mattered – the Final by four wickets.
This match will start at 17h30 (SAST) local time.
FULL SQUADS FOR ST GEORGE’S
Sunrisers Eastern Cape: Aiden Markram (captain), Tom Abell, Ottniel Baartman, Temba Bavuma, Liam Dawson, Sarel Erwee, Aya Gqamane, Simon Harmer, Jordan Hermann, Marco Jansen, Patrick Kruger, Dawid Malan, Adam Rossington, Caleb Seleka, Andile Simelane, Tristan Stubbs, Beyers Swanepoel, Daniel Worrall.
Pretoria Capitals: Wayne Parnell (captain), Matthew Boast, Corbin Bosch, Eathan Bosch, Shane Dadswell, Theunis de Bruyn, Daryn Dupavillon, Colin Ingram, Will Jacks, Senuran Muthusamy, Jimmy Neesham, Migael Pretorius, Adil Rashid, Rilee Rossouw, Phil Salt, Paul Stirling, Tiaan van Vuuren, Kyle Verreynne, Hardus Viljoen.
MATCH OFFICIALS
Match referee: Gerrie Pienaar
Standing umpires: Stephen Harris and Phillip Vosloo
TV umpire: Arno Jacobs
Reserve umpire: Abongile Sodumo
Source: cricket.co.za
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