Roelof van der Merwe continued to inspire Sunrisers Eastern Cape as the underdogs to their inaugural SA20 title beat Pretoria Capitals by four wickets with 22 balls to spare in the final at Wanderers on Sunday evening.
It was good for Sunrisers to win after three days of rain forcing the final to be pushed back by the day and pitch to cover, and Pretoria Capitals, sent to bat, were bowled out for just 135 in the last finish.
Joint leading wicket-taker
He was removed by left-arm spinner Van der Merwe, who took 4/31 in four overs to finish as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with Anrich Nortje.
They struck two big blows in front with the bowling of Phil Salt (8) and Theunis de Bruyn (11), with the jaffa turning from middle and leg to hit the stumps, and then also causing the last collapse. saw Pretoria crash from 127/6, with the dismissal of Eathan Bosch (15) and Migael Pretorius (0) with consecutive yorkers.
The Capitals top-order all managed to start, but they found it difficult in the middle of the overs, and tended to lose wickets in clumps.
Markram, Baartman
Off-spinner Aiden Markram really strangled Pretoria in the middle overs, conceding only 17 runs in four overs and bowling experienced Colin Ingram (17) with a beauty that turned over the left-hander’s outer edge.
Ottneil Baartman was also very effective, claiming the wickets of Kusal Mendis (21) and Jimmy Neesham (19), while conceding just 22 runs in three overs.
Rossington blasted 57
The Pretoria Capitals’ bowling was then collapsed by Sunrisers opener Adam Rossington, who smashed 57 off just 30 balls to overcome his run-chase anxiety on a pitch that had now been in the sun for hours, but was still turning. and a bit for pace bowlers.
The Englishman was not at the crease for long, but he certainly paid his rent as he pummeled four fours and five sixes to make life easier for the rest of the batting line-up.
The highlight of the innings came when Rossington plundered 26 runs off Migael Pretorius at the end of the powerplay.
The attack meant that when Pretoria’s best bowlers arrived – Adil Rashid (4-0-13-1) and Nortje (4-0-21-2) – it was too late to make an impact, although they did. at least make the losing margin more palatable.
Jordan Hermann (22) and Markram (26) partnered with Rossington to take Sunrisers to the verge of victory, before some cheap wickets fell in the closing stages.