Ross Roche

By Ross Roche

Senior sports writer


Sunrisers Eastern Cape v Pretoria Capitals: All you need to know

The Sunrisers have found better fortunes on the road beating MI CT by four runs and DSG by five wickets to climb to third on the log.


After two solid wins on the road the Sunrisers Eastern Cape will be returning to Gqeberha where they will hope to pick up their first home win at St George’s Park this season in their SA20 match against the Pretoria Capitals.

The Sunriser’s first game at home against the Joburg Super Kings was washed out, followed by them losing against Durban’s Super Giants (DSG) by 35 runs, but they have found better fortunes on the road beating Mumbai Indians Cape Town (MI CT) by four runs and DSG by five wickets to climb to third on the log.

ALSO READ: Hermann pleased to get Sunrisers off the ground with ‘special’ ton

For last season’s table toppers and finalists the Capitals it has been a disastrous start to the season with them having won just one of four games to sit bottom of the log and they will be desperate for another win.

It will also be a replay of last season’s final, which the Sunrisers won to be crowned the first winners of the SA20.

Here are all the details about the match in Gqeberha

Where and what time: St George’s Park, first ball at 5:30pm

Who’s playing: Sunrisers Eastern Cape from Gqeberha against Pretoria Capitals from Pretoria

How to watch: Supersport channels 201 and 212

Squads

Sunrisers: Tom Abell, Ottneil Baartman, Temba Bavuma, Liam Dawson, Sarel Erwee, Aya Gqamane, Simon Harmer, Jordan Hermann, Marco Jansen, Patrick Kruger, Dawid Malan, Aiden Markram, Adam Rossington, Caleb Seleka, Andile Simelane, Tristan Stubbs, Beyers Swanepoel, Daniel Worrall

Capitals: Matthew Boast, Corbin Bosch, Eathan Bosch, Shane Dadswell, Theunis de Bruyn, Daryn Dupavillon, Colin Ingram, Will Jacks, Senuran Muthusamy, Jimmy Neesham, Hardus Viljoen, Wayne Parnell, Migael Pretorius, Adil Rashid, Rilee Rossouw, Phil Salt, Paul Stirling, Tiaan van Vuuren, Kyle Verreynne

Players to watch

A number of Sunrisers players stood out in their two wins last week and will be hoping to continue that good form against the Capitals.

Young Jordan Hermann showed his undeniable talent with a maiden T20 century helping them beat MI CT at Newlands, while England’s Dawid Malan scored a half century on his debut and Ottneil Baartman also impressed on the bowling front with 3/35 and defending the last over for the win.

Against DSG experienced spinner Simon Harmer produced superb figures of 4/18 to limit the home side, while Tristan Stubbs bashed them to the win with the bat scoring an unbeaten 66 off 37 balls.

Other players bubbling under for the Sunrisers include captain Aiden Markram and Proteas all-rounder Marco Jansen.

Despite their poor form the Capitals have a number of dangerous players, with their current form player, Englishman Will Jacks, definitely one to watch.

Jacks helped them pick up their first win of the competition against DSG as he hammered the quickest century in SA20 history, finishing on 101 off 42 balls and picked up 2/18 with the ball, while he also picked up 2/26 against the Joburg Super Kings (JSK).

His fellow Englishman Phil Salt and New Zealand’s Jimmy Neesham are also a dangerous prospects, along with a number of South Africans, including Kyle Verreynne who scored 72 against JSK, Rilee Rossouw and captain Wayne Parnell who will all be keen to fire against the Sunrisers.

Last season

Last season the sides met three times, with the Capitals triumphing in the pool stages but the Sunrisers winning the most important game, the final to lift the trophy.

In the first match at St George’s the Capitals scored 193/6 thanks to an unbeaten 77 from Phil Salt, while Aiden Markram picked up 2/17, with the Sunrisers responding with 170/5, Jon Jon Smuts scored 66 and Anrich Nortje took 2/18, with the Capitals winning by 23 runs.

The second game in Centurion saw the Capitals post 216/6 with Will Jacks scoring 92 and Sisanda Magala picking up 2/28, while the Sunrisers could only manage 179/7 with Markram scoring 46 and Wayne Parnell picking up 2/20 for a 37 run win.

The Sunrisers then turned form on its head in the final, bowling the Capitals out for 135 thanks to Roelof van der Merwe’s 4/31, while they chased that down with four wickets to spare as Adam Rossington top scored with a 30-ball 57.