• Sunrisers hope to keep Orange Army smiling

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    The Sunrisers Eastern Cape will look to continue their revival when they host the Pretoria Capitals at St George’s Park in Gqeberha on Wednesday.

    The defending champions have hit form over the last two matches to move up the table into the playoff positions after losing their three opening games.

    The atmosphere inside St George’s Park was electric in the last match and captain Aiden Markram is hoping they can count on the support of their “12th man” again.

    “They are unbelievable. Even chatting to Kane Williamson after the match [on Sunday], he said he has never experienced an atmosphere like that,” Markram said.

    “It’s really loud in their own kind of PE Orange Army way. It definitely pumps you up, because they get behind you, especially when you get ahead of the game and they carry you through little moments of the game.

    “It’s really special to have them coming out and continuing to support us even after the dodgy start we’ve had to the tournament.”

    Markram, who is the only SA20 skipper to hold aloft the championship trophy, believes his team’s turnaround is due to the top-order batsmen starting to find some form.

    “With the bat, we’ve been getting off to much better starts, the guys in the power play have been very good for us and we’ve been doing similar things with the ball as well,” he said.

    “We’ve been managing to get in front of the game, whether batting or bowling earlier on and that helps a lot in T20 cricket.”

    The Capitals, meanwhile, are hoping to do the double over the Sunrisers after beating the champions in Centurion.

    However, that remains their only victory and captain Rilee Rossouw is hoping to lean on his senior players to restart their season.

    “We’ve a lot of experience, these guys have cricket brains to whom I can turn and get some advice,” Rossouw said.

    Photo: Sportzpics

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    Dylan Johnson