Eastern Cape Sunrisers stunned Pretoria Capitals to win their inaugural SA20 league at Wanderers on Sunday.
Aiden Markram’s team won the final by four wickets with 22 balls to spare after chasing a target of 136 to win.
The match was postponed from Saturday after heavy rain in Joburg over the past few days made conditions unplayable on Saturday.
Roelof van der Merwe
The Capitals, who batted first, could only score 135 runs, with Roelof van der Merwe taking 4 for 31.
No player from the Capitals scored more than 21 runs. They were also bowled out before facing the quota of 20 overs.
The best contribution with the bat came from Kusal Mendis (21), while Rilee Rossouw and James Neesham both scored 19.
Van der Merwe was well supported by Sisanda Magala (2/30) and Ottniel Baartman (2/22). Markram finished with 1/17 in four overs.
In reply, Sunrisers, who won the toss and elected to bowl first, got off to a perfect start with Adam Rossington scoring 57 runs off 30 balls at the top of the order.
Jordan Hermann with 22 and Markram with 26 were other key contributors.
Anrich Nortje, with 2/21 from four, was the Capitals’ best bowler.
Final six
While there was a bit of wobble in their run chase, Sunrisers achieved the target with four wickets remaining; Marco Jansen struck out six to win the game and secure the title.
Van der Merwe said in a pitch-side television interview that he was “very happy”. “What an unbelievable game today,” said the veteran spinner. “I’m very happy.”
Jansen added: “It was a bit stressful at the end, but we got over the line.”
Adrian Birrell, the veteran coach of Sunrisers, called the win the bet of his career.
“It’s incredible,” he said. “We didn’t play good cricket during the competition but we picked up the game at the end and put in some good performances.”