Pretoria Capitals seal their place in SA20 final with great victory in Qualifier match in Durban
The Pretoria Capitals will have the opportunity to be crowned champions of the 2026 SA20 cricket tournament in Cape Town on Sunday, after they beat the Sunrisers Eastern Cape in the first play-off match in Durban on Wednesday night to qualify directly for the final.
A partnership of 91 runs off 60 balls between Bryce Parsons and Dewald Brevis got the Pretoria Capitals over the hump on Wednesday night during the SA20 “Qualifier 1” play-off match against the Sunrisers Eastern Cape in Durban, which they eventually won by 7 wickets.
Contributions from Parsons (60 off 44 balls) and Brevis (75 off 38 balls) ultimately enabled Keshav Maharaj and his men to surpass the Sunrisers Eastern Cape’s total of 170/7 in their 19th over to qualify directly for the tournament final on Sunday 25 January at Newlands in Cape Town.
Tristan Stubbs and his troops from the Eastern Cape will now have to take the longer route to try to qualify for the final. This means they will eventually have to beat the winner of Thursday’s “Eliminator” match in Centurion between the Paarl Royals and the Joburg Super Kings in the “Qualifier 2” play-off match on Friday in Johannesburg.
After Stubbs won the toss in Durban on Wednesday, he elected to bat first.
The Eastern Cape team’s top order started well with Quinton de Kock (19 off 15 balls), Jonny Bairstow (50 off 36 balls), Jordan Hermann (41 off 30 balls) and Stubbs’ unbeaten 26 off 22 balls laying a solid foundation.
Photo: Pretoria Capitals
After Hermann’s departure, the wickets started to fall at a steady pace and from the 16th over, the Sunrisers Eastern Cape’s momentum was disrupted with a wicket in each over. Parsons, who was also the Pretoria team’s best bowler (3/10 in three overs), did the major damage in this phase, taking two of his eventual three wickets.
This good bowling meant that the Sunrisers were ultimately restricted to 170/7 in their 20 overs, even though Stubbs was unbeaten in front of the stumps until the end.
After Parsons lost his opening partner, Shai Hope (11 off 9 balls) in the second over of the Capitals’ innings, he and Connor Esterhuizen (22 off 19 balls) came together and piled up 46 runs in five overs before the latter’s wicket fell to set up Brevis’ appearance before the stumps.
𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗠𝗔𝗧𝗖𝗛-𝗪𝗜𝗡𝗡𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗦𝗛𝗢𝗧 🤩#CapitalsRebuild #PretoriaLetsRoar #BetwaySA20 pic.twitter.com/JBegpe1Eqb
— Pretoria Capitals (@PretoriaCapsSA) January 21, 2026
Although Sherfane Rutherford joined Brevis in the 18th over after Parsons’ departure, he only needed to watch as his batting partner hammered the final nails into the Sunrisers’ coffin. The 22-year-old former Affie pupil sealed the victory with three huge sixes in the 19th over to see his team finish on 172/3.
What makes Brevis’ batting performance even more remarkable is that there were concerns early in the match about whether he would be able to bat, after he injured a finger while fielding when he tried to catch a hook shot from Bairstow at deep extra cover.
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