Sunrisers: The Train Gathers Steam

The Sunrisers Eastern Cape steam train is gathering momentum after the two-time Betway SA20 champions claimed a third consecutive bonus point win.

The defending champions fed off the energy of playing before the Orange Army at St George’s Park with a 52-run victory over the Pretoria Capitals on Wednesday evening.

The Sunrisers remain in third place with 15 points, while the Capitals stay on nine points in fifth place.

It was a performance where the back-to-back champions had to show their character after being reduced to 53/5 after an impressive early burst by Capitals seamer Eathan Bosch (3/33) and new Australian recruit Jason Behrendorff.

Bosch has now become the Capitals’ leading wicket-taker with 26 scalps surpassing former captain Wayne Parnell’s 24.

The Sunrisers required a captain’s innings and Aiden Markram delivered with a gusty 68 not out off 55 balls to lift the Sunrisers up to 149/7.

Markram received lower order support from Marco Jansen (24 off 24 balls) and Liam Dawson (25 off 11 balls) to switch the momentum in the favour of the home team.

“It was tough, the new ball was doing a lot, swing and extra bounce. When the ball got soft, the odd one was sticking onto the surface, some were holding on, it wasn’t easy. They have got some skillful bowlers, so I wanted to watch my technical aspect and thankfully it allowed me to get in,” said Markram.

“We didn’t want to pull the trigger too early, he provided the impetus (on Marco Jansen), the small knocks from him and Dawson were so important and it allowed me to settle. He keeps getting better and better, it’s great for South Africa to see such a young guy keep performing.

“He has a calm head and a cool character, thankful for the crowd to have come out and supported us in big numbers. It was tricky and to come out to support us on such a windy day was nice to see.”

Jansen is fast becoming an early contender for Betway SA20 Season 3 Most Valuable Player (MVP) with the all-rounder following up his cameo with a brilliant new-ball spell.

The lanky left-arm seamer tore through the Capitals top order with figures of 3/7 and aided by Richard Gleeson (1/22) left the visitors in tatters at 28/4.

The Capitals had handed Rookie Keagan Lion-Cachet a Betway SA20 debut and the 22-year-old showed that he had both the skill and temperament to succeed at this level.

The right-hander struck a solid 28 in partnership with Marcques Ackerman (25) to give the Capitals a semblance of hope.

However, the Sunrisers were not to be denied on their home patch with Dawson (3/17) picking up both in quick succession to close out another bonus point win.

Capitals captain Rilee Rossouw believes his team can still turn around their fortunes.

“I thought we did the right thing at the right time with our bowling, 150 was par and the bowlers did their job, but the batters were below par,” Rossouw said.

“It was all about natural instincts, we wanted to go as deep as possible, take the match as deep as possible, but they kept taking wickets in the middle. Hitting half-volleys to mid-off, hitting half-trackers to long leg, that’s not natural instinct.

“We need to do the right things, stick to our process and a couple of wins, we’ll probably be through to the playoffs.”