• Sunrisers survive Fortuin scare

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    The Sunrisers Eastern Cape beat the Paarl Royals by five wickets at Boland Park on Thursday.

    After starting the SA20 tournament with two defeats, the Sunriers have won three matches in a row to move into second position on the log.

    The Royals may pride themselves on their spin bowling prowess, but it was the visitors who out-spun the home side.

    Captain Aiden Markram (2-21), Roelof van der Merwe (2-21) and Brydon Carse (2-29) combined to claim 6-71 in their cumulative 12 overs to restrict the Royals to 127-7.

    The Royals were in trouble from the outset after Sisanda Magala, who was recently called up to the Proteas ODI squad for the upcoming series against England, had dangerman Jos Buttler brilliantly caught by a diving Carse at mid-on.

    From thereon the Sunrisers spinners dominated proceedings with only Wihan Lubbe (28) and Corbin Bosch (20) managing to make an impact on the scoreboard.

    The Sunrisers’ reply started in a positive fashion through Adam Rossington and Jordan Hermann.

    Hermann, who was making his SA20 debut, scored 43 off 39 balls, while Rossington compiled a rapid 20 off 12 balls.

    Lungi Ngidi provided some early hope for the Royals with an impressive new-ball spell when he struck with successive deliveries to remove Rossington and Sarel Erwee.

    Hermann and captain Aiden Markram then restored parity with a 53-run partnership to set the Sunrisers on course for victory.

    However, there was a further sting in the tail when Bjorn Fortuin claimed three wickets in an over to give the Royals and the buoyant Boland Park crowd hope.

    Fortun (3-20) thought he’d picked up a fourth wicket when trapping Marco Jansen lbw first ball, but the umpire’s decision was overturned upon review.

    Jansen (21* off 22 balls) and Tristan Stubbs (18* off 12) then held their nerve to secure a third successive win for the Sunrisers.

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    Simon Borchardt