Defending champions outperform opponents as Jansen wins five of the caps.
strong batting performance
Super Giants of Durban (112; Muller 38, Jansen 5-30) lost to Sunrisers Eastern
Cape 204 for 3 (Stubbs 56*, Abell 55, Markram 42, Hermann 42) by 89 runs.
In a brilliant team effort at Newlands, Sunrisers Eastern Cape destroyed
Durban's Super Giants by 89 runs to win back-to-back SA20 titles. Marco Jansen
spearheaded the attack with an incredible five-wicket haul.
The Sunrisers, who had won the toss and elected to bat
first, amassed a substantial total of 204 for 3 thanks to a potent batting
display centered around two notable partnerships: Jordan Hermann and Tom Abell
struck 90 runs from 52 balls, and Aiden Markram and Tristan Stubbs, who
top-scored with 56 not out from 30 balls, struck an unbroken 98 runs from 55
balls.
Durban's innings, on the other hand, never gained any momentum. Following
Friday's Qualifier victory over the Joburg Super Kings, they traveled down from
Johannesburg early in the morning. Their batters were completely outmatched in
a fierce powerplay display that was highlighted by Jansen's towering left-arm
angles and Dan Worrall's attacking seam and swing.
Quinton de Kock lost his wicket early in their innings after
hitting a flat-footed drive at Worrall and inside-edged onto his stumps for
three runs. If Jansen hadn't spilled JJ Smuts at slip first ball, he might have
had two in two. However, Jansen quickly atoned, forcing Smuts to chip drive
to mid-off from his second delivery, and Bhanuka Rajapaksa could have had a
third-ball duck by flapping a loose clip to the same fielder at slip.
With Durban down to seven for three, the match was all but over. Wiaan Mulder
tried his hardest to salvage a 56-run partnership with a nearly perfect Matthew
Breetzke, but Jansen would be Sunrisers' man to strike again, this time in the
field. At the end of the tenth over, Mulder was able to swing for the ropes off
Simon Harmer, but only after he stretched his arms fully over the boundary and
sent Mulder sailing for 38.
After Breetkze lost his off stump to Ottniel Baartman one ball into his static
knock of eighteen from twenty-seven balls, Baartman put an end to any lingering
hopes of a Durban miracle in the same over. Heinrich Klaasen has been the
tournament's best ball striker, racing to 447 runs at an incredible strike rate of 207.90. However, this time, he was only able to last one delivery, as
Baartman landed his inswinger and trapped Stephen Harris for an on-field leg
before wicket, despite the ball appearing to be clipping leg.
The end arrived suddenly. After making a comeback in his
third over, Jansen removed Keshav Maharaj's off stump and took two wickets with
his final three balls to end any opposition. A ball later, Junior Dala picked
out Harmer at long-on after Junior Dala had flicked him off his pads for a
token six. Reece Topley was then dealt with by another off-stump heat-seeker,
setting off the celebrations.
It could be argued that Durban's display went wrong from the first over of the
game. They strayed from the strategies that had worked so well against the
Johannesburg Super Kings in the qualifier, giving left-arm spinner Smuts an
opening over that was exploited for nine wasted runs, which was two more than
Sunrisers would give up in taking their first three wickets. Even after Topley
struck with his fourth delivery of the second over, a plumb lbw against Dawid
Malan (6), it set the tone for a passive show with the ball.
This got Abell to the middle, and even though he would end up winning Player-of-the-Match, he had a lucky start to his innings, scoring runs off of 14 balls in a row. After being dropped at six in Topley's second over, he survived a potentially game-changing ball when Maharaj caught a low bounce at mid-off and indicated to the umpires that he wasn't sure if it had carried. Even though the replays appeared to show that his fingers were under the ball, that doubt may have influenced the ensuing TV referral.
With a four and a six off back-to-back deliveries from
Mulder, Abell's innings picked up speed. With gaps opening up in the field, he
raced to a 30-ball fifty with seven fours and two sixes inside the 10th over,
with Sunrisers' 100 approaching in the same over.
But Durban responded magnificently, as Maharaj dismissed both set batsmen in
the span of four balls. Before Abell was bowled for 55 from 34 after being
beaten in flight on the slog-sweep, Hermann holed out to Klaasen at long-on for
42 from 27 balls. That brought Stubbs and Markram together in the eleventh
over, and at 106 for 3, a little rebuilding was needed.
Every player hit a boundary early on, but Stubbs was the first to accelerate the pace, finishing Dwayne Pretorius' second over with back-to-back fours. Subsequently, the game switched to Stubbs' lengthy levers, as three sixes in eight balls propelled the total above 200. It would turn out to be more than sufficient in the end.
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