The Sunrisers Eastern Cape claimed a third consecutive bonus-point win by beating the Pretoria Capitals by 52 runs at St George’s Park on Wednesday.
The back-to-back champions remain in third place on the log with 15 points, while the Capitals stay fifth.
It was a performance where the hosts had to show their character after being reduced to 53-5 after an impressive early burst by Capitals seamer Eathan Bosch (3-33) and new Australian recruit Jason Behrendorff.
Bosch has now become the Capitals’ leading wicket-taker with 26 scalps surpassing former captain Wayne Parnell’s 24.
The Sunrisers required a captain’s innings and Aiden Markram delivered with a gusty 68* off 55 balls to lift the Sunrisers up to 149-7.
Markram received lower order support from Marco Jansen (24 off 24 balls) and Liam Dawson (25 off 11 balls) to switch the momentum in the favour of the home team.
“It was tough; the new ball was doing a lot, swing and extra bounce,” said Markram. “When the ball got soft, the odd one was sticking onto the surface, some were holding on, it wasn’t easy. They have got some skillful bowlers, so I wanted to watch my technical aspect and thankfully it allowed me to get in.
“We didn’t want to pull the trigger too early. Marco provided the impetus, the small knocks from him and Dawson were so important and it allowed me to settle. He keeps getting better and better. It’s great for South Africa to see such a young guy keep performing. He has a calm head and a cool character.”
HIGHLIGHTS: Sunrisers Eastern Cape vs Pretoria Capitals (SA20)
Jansen followed up his cameo with a brilliant new-ball spell.
The lanky left-arm seamer tore through the Capitals top order with figures of 3-7 and aided by Richard Gleeson (1-22) left the visitors in tatters at 28-4.
The Capitals had handed rookie Keagan Lion-Cachet an SA20 debut and the 22-year-old showed that he had both the skill and temperament to succeed at this level.
The right-hander struck a solid 28 in partnership with Marques Ackerman (25) to give the Capitals a semblance of hope, but Dawson (3-17) dismissed both in quick succession to close out another bonus point win.
Capitals captain Rilee Rossouw believes his team can still turn things around.
“I thought we did the right thing at the right time with our bowling – 150 was par and the bowlers did their job – but the batters were below par,” he said.
“It was all about natural instincts. We wanted to go as deep as possible, take the match as deep as possible, but they kept taking wickets in the middle. Hitting half-volleys to mid-off, hitting half-trackers to long leg, that’s not natural instinct.
“We need to do the right things, stick to our process and a couple of wins, we’ll probably be through to the playoffs.”
Photo: Ron Gaunt/Sportzpics
