The inaugural SA20 is set to reach its conclusion tomorrow (Saturday 11th February) as the Final takes place at Wanderers in Johannesburg. The standout team so far, Pretoria Capitals, take on late bloomers Sunrisers Eastern Cape. The Capitals topped the league with 32 points from their ten games, picking up four bonus points from their seven wins. The Sunrisers, meanwhile, got off to a slow start but ended up in third on 19 points, a whole 13 behind Pretoria.
How did Pretoria Capitals reach the SA20 2023 Final?
The Capitals started as they meant to go on, comfortably beating the Sunrisers in their opening game with Phil Salt and Anrich Nortje the stars.
Salt's England teammate and opening partner Will Jacks was the source of a number of electric starts in the powerplay and beyond, along with Salt himself. Nortje's pace caused enormous problems for the opposition, as did Eathan Bosch's impressive new ball bowling and Jimmy Neesham's knack for taking wickets.
Pretoria won four of their first five to take a commanding lead at the top of the table. Jacks left for international duty after seven games but not before he had slayed a number of attacks and produced some spectacular numbers. His replacement, Sri Lanka's Kusal Mendis, picked up where Jacks left off and formed another formidable opening stand with Salt.
The Capitals did fall to the highest score as Durban's Super Giants smoked them for 254, before being bowled out for just 103. It might have been the biggest winning (or losing, in the Capitals' case) margin in the tournament so far, but it did little to affect the table-toppers' form.
They bounced back immediately by scoring 226-5 against the Paarl Royals in their next game, before defeating the same opposition in the semi-final. Star man Rilee Rossouw, who has so far been out of touch with regards to form, provided a glimpse of his brilliant 2022 with a crucial fifty to help Pretoria to a winning total and in turn, the Final.
How did Sunrisers Eastern Cape reach the SA20 2023 Final?
Sunrisers got off to a slow start losing their first two games, albeit both against Pretoria themselves. They then won three on the bounce to kickstart their campaign. The upturn coincided with the introduction into the side of Netherlands all-rounder and former South Africa international Roloef van der Merwe. His wily left-arm spin caused many issues for the opposition and he is currently sat third in the wicket-taking standings with an economy of just 5.33.
The middle order of captain Aidan Markram, Tristan Stubbs and Marco Jansen all played strong knocks throughout the league stage. Jansen in particular played one of the best innings of the tournament to get his team an improbable win against MI Cape Town in one of the matches of the season. Markram himself has been at his solid best with both bat and ball, striking his maiden t20 hundred in the semi-final against Johannesburg Super Kings.
The burly English wicket-keeper opening batter Adam Rossington has also provided an electric spark at the top of the innings while local player Jordan Hermann has played some nice knocks since his introduction to the side. Sisanda Magala's performances with the ball at both the top and tail of the innings saw him win a recall to the South Africa ODI side against England.
Despite going winless for three games to finish the league stage, SEC outpowered the Super Kings en route to their semi-final win. Markram was the clear star and the side will head into the Final with renewed confidence against a side that has already beaten them twice comfortably.
What happened in the previous two Pretoria Capitals vs Sunrisers Eastern Cape meetings?
The first two matches played by the two sides in the SA20 2023 were actually against each other. In the first game, as mentioned previously, Salt was the Capitals' star with the bat. The England international carried his bat for 77 not out, striking 11 boundaries in the process. Despite reaching 193-6, Pretoria were 80-5 midway through the tenth over. Neesham's 37 and a late cameo of 29 from nine balls from captain Wayne Parnell took the visitors to a big total.
Sunrisers could not get going in their reply, being reduced to 34-3 midway through the eighth over; there had been two wicket maidens within the powerplay. Good innings from JJ Smuts (66) and Tom Abell (40*) and cameos from Stubbs and James Fuller denied Capitals their first bonus point as they got to 170-5. Nortje was the star with the ball, taking 4-1-18-1.
In the following match, it was Jacks' turn to play a big innings at the top for the Capitals. He smoked seven fours and eight sixes on his way to an incredible 92 off just 46 balls before he was caught behind with 33 balls still remaining in the innings. He was mainly supported by Theunis de Bruyn, with whom he put on 111 in nine overs and who scored 42 off 23 himself. Some other contributions saw Pretoria bring up the first 200+ score of the tournament, ending on 216-6.
Again, the chase did not get off to a good start for SEC as Sarel Erwee and Jordan Cox were dismissed cheaply once more, Smuts and Markram got the score to 82-2 after nine overs but a mini collapse derailed any genuine hope of a win as Stubbs' dismissal saw Sunrisers 104-6 needing 113 off 41 balls. They did once more deny the Capitals a bonus point thanks to some late hitting from Jansen (36* off 20) and Brydon Carse (26* off 13) but they ultimately fell 38 runs short.
SA20 2023 semi-final reviews
Semi-final 1 - Pretoria Capitals vs Paarl Royals
The Capitals got off to a rare slow start as Mendis was dismissed by Bjorn Fortuin for seven as they put up just 32 in the powerplay. Tabraiz Shamsi's introduction in the seventh over brought about the wicket of de Bruyn before he struck again in his next over to remove Salt for 22. Rossouw and Colin Ingram began to accumulate through the middle overs before the latter fell for ten to leave Pretoria 84-4 in the 14th. New man Neesham fell in the following over to the bowling of Andile Phehlukwayo but Rossouw was still there on 30.
The left-hander then brought up his first fifty of the tournament off 38 balls in the 18th with the score on 127-5 as he helped take 17 off a Lungi Ngidi over, before he holed out off the first ball of the penultimate over to go for 56 off 41. Bosch's important cameo then came to an end for 22 off 10 as the Capitals ended on 153-8, with spinners Fortuin (4-0-24-1) and Shamsi (4-0-19-2) the pick of the bowlers alongside Phehlukwayo (4-0-29-3).
Jason Roy's lean tournament continued as he was out second ball, before Bosch collected his second with the big wicket of Jos Buttler with one that kept low. Paul Stirling fell victim to Adil Rashid for 21 straight after the powerplay to leave the Royals 49-3 before dismissing Dane Vilas with a beauty in his next over.
Eoin Morgan began to look dangerous but the gamble of bringing Rossouw on to bowl paid off as he got the former England captain for 17 with his second ball. Evan Jones fell for a seven-ball duck to leave Paarl in bother at 90-6 with 41 balls to go. Phehlukwayo was unable to hang in with David Miller as he was out for seven with 45 needed from 22.
The game was then all but sealed for the Capitals as Miller holed out for 31 with 30 needed from an over and a half and just a wicket remaining. Nortje then duly wrapped the game up as he completed a double wicket maiden to claim 2-29 off his four overs to confirm the Capitals' route to the final with a 29-run win.
Semi-final 2 - Johannesburg Super Kings vs Sunrisers Eastern Cape
Lizaad Williams produced an unplayable corker of a delivery as Bavuma gloved to first slip for a golden duck before the dangerous Rossington nicked off three balls later. The Sunrisers were a modest 40-2 after the powerplay as Hermann and Markram set about building a platform to produce a strong target. Their classy third wicket partnership of 99 was cut short when Hermann was run out for 48 coming back for a second.
Stubbs joined Markram and the two set about striking the ball to all parts, with Markram bringing up his fifty in 40 balls in the process. He then clicked into overdrive as he took just 17 balls to bring up his maiden t20 hundred in magnificent style with a six over cover. The pair's partnership of 75 in just 31 balls was ended when Markram holed out to long-off the ball after he reached his ton. Stubbs then went for 20 in the same over to leave SEC 185-5 with seven balls to go. The final over, bowled by Gerald Coetzee, went for a mammoth 27 as Jordan Cox ended on 18 off just six balls to see Sunrisers to 213-5.
Faf Du Plessis went first ball for the second successive match as he picked out deep midwicket before fellow in-form batter Leus du Plooy departed for a six-ball duck to leave JSK 1-2. Coetzee, promoted to open seemingly as a pinch-hitter, faced just one of the first 18 balls and at one point was on just four off 13. His troubled stay came to an end on 12 off 17 as van der Merwe continued his terrific tournament.
Reeza Hendricks, dropped down the order to number four, brought up his fifty in 33 balls but there was still 130 needed off 50 balls. Australian 'keeper Matthew Wade then went for 19 as the Super Kings sat in a perilous position, needing 115 from seven overs. Big-hitting Donovan Ferreira showed intent but once he was dismissed for 20 off nine, the writing was on the wall.
JSK did not give up, with big West Indies international Romario Shepherd helping to get the equation down to 38 off 11. Hendricks' best innings of the tournament came to end on 96 as he skied one to long-off looking for his hundred. Shepherd smoked the last ball of the match for six to finish on 38 off 14 but it was in vain as the Sunrisers booked their ticket to the Final via a 14-run win.
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