The Sunrisers were handed their second defeat in seven games this season.
While they fell short in their attempt to secure a spot in the playoffs, with three games to spare in the league stage, head coach Adrian Burrell said he was pleased with the Sunrisers Eastern Cape players for fighting back in their narrow defeat to Durban’s Super Giants in Gqeberha on Sunday.
Chasing 159 runs to win, the Super Giants racked up 71 for the loss of one wicket during the powerplay, and they looked set to coast to a convincing victory.
But the Sunrisers bowlers were superb, strangling the visiting side’s middle-order and taking the game to the death, with the Super Giants hanging on to win by two wickets with three balls remaining in their innings.
“To fight back and only lose in the last few balls, I’m quite proud of the fight we had,” Burrell said.
“It is a tricky venue to chase, but I think we just couldn’t pull it back enough, although we tried very hard.”
Sights set on playoffs
If the Sunrisers had won the game, they would have become the first team to qualify for the SA20 playoffs.
And though he admitted they needed to work hard for it, Burrell said the Sunrisers were hungry to ensure they not only reached the knockout stages for the fourth season in succession, but also earn a spot in the top two in order to avoid the eliminator match and progress straight to the qualifiers.
The Eastern Cape outfit will face the Joburg Super Kings in Gqeberha on Wednesday, and their last two round-robin games will be played against MI Cape Town at Newlands on Friday and St George’s Park on Sunday.
“We’re going to play Joburg and then we’re going to play Mumbai (MI Cape Town) twice, so there are no easy games,” Burrell said.
“But we never got ahead of ourselves. There was no complacency whatsoever (against the Super Giants). We always knew it was going to be tricky just to get into the playoffs, and then to try get into the top two.
“We’re desperate to try get into the playoffs, and we came close in this game to get there. We were under pressure most of this game, but to lose by a small margin… that shows how much it means to us to try get over the line.”
