Defending champs Sunrisers to get second edition of SA20 under way

The second edition of the SA20 is set to kick-off in style on Wednesday evening when the defending champions, the Sunrisers Eastern Cape, host the Joburg Super Kings in the opening match at St George’s Park in Gqeberha (start 5:30pm).

It is set to be a thrilling match between the two sides that battled it out in the semifinals last year, where the Sunrisers produced a top performance to beat the Super Kings on their home patch, the Wanderers.

ALSO READ: Proteas coach defends weakened squad for NZ tour – ‘SA20 is lifeblood of SA cricket

Proteas star and Sunrisers captain Aiden Markram attempted to temper expectations at the captains press conference on Monday afternoon, saying that it would be a tough competition once again when asked if his side would be able to defend their title.

“I really hope so (defend their title). I don’t think these guys to my right (other five franchise captains) will want that to happen, so fair play to that,” said Markram.

“It was a fantastic competition last year. By hook or by crook we got into the knockouts and at least played two good games of cricket (semi and final) after that.

“To lift the trophy was quite special. It was a great memory for us and we will certainly give it our best crack this year too.”

Match winners

The Sunrisers have a number of match winners in their team, including rising Proteas star all-rounder Marco Jansen, destructive batter Tristan Stubbs, and rising bowling talent Ottneil Baartman.

They also have some impressive overseas talent with wicketkeeper batter Adam Rossington making a big splash for the team last year, while fellow Englishman Dawid Malan, who topped the T20 international batting rankings for a while, joins up with the team this season.

For the Super Kings former Proteas captain Faf du Plessis will be eager to make a big impression, while current Proteas Reeza Hendricks, Donovan Ferreira, Gerald Coetzee and Nandre Burger will also be keen to shine.

They are also bolstered by some top internationals with English all-rounder Moeen Ali and West Indian all-rounder Romario Shepherd at the top of the list.

The Sunrisers will want to get off to the best possible start in this year’s edition as the format for teams qualifying for the knockouts has changed to mirror the IPL, making home games very important.

Two chances

Last year it was a straight semifinal and final, whereas this year it will be two qualifiers and an eliminator, meaning that the teams that finish first and second on the log will have two chances of reaching the final.

“Your home games become quite important. St George’s is a fantastic stadium with a great fan base and if you can win those games, and then get a few wins on the road you will generally be sitting well placed on the table,” explained Markram.

“The concept of qualifying first or second is massive so striving towards that and having two bites at qualifying for the final is quite important I feel. So we will take it game by game and see how far we get.”

The other four sides get their SA20 campaigns under way when Durban’s Super Giants host Mumbai Indians Cape Town at Kingsmead on Thursday and the Paarl Royals take on the Pretoria Capitals at Boland Park on Friday.