De Kock, Breetzke and Hermann power Sunrisers

Top half centuries from Quinton de Kock and Matthew Breetzke and a cameo from Jordan Hermann powered the Sunrisers Eastern Cape to a solid 188/6 batting first in their SA20 clash against the Pretoria Capitals at St George’s Park in Gqeberha on Monday evening.

It would be interesting to know what either side thinks of the total, as it is a very competitive score on the ground, so the Sunrisers would usually be happy, but a poor last three overs pulled it back for the visiting Capitals, who will be happy to not be chasing over 200, but may feel they leaked a few too many.

But De Kock, 77 off 47 balls (5x4; 6x6), Breetzke, 52 off 33 (7x4; 1x6), and Hermann, 37 off 20 (5x4; 1x6) will be happy with their efforts as they scored the lions share of the Sunrisers runs, but with none there at the end of the innings they were unfortunately unable to maximise in the last few overs.

After winning the toss and choosing to bat, it was a mixed start to their innings for the Sunrisers, as De Kock launched Tymal Mills for a six and a four in the first over that went for 12, but in the second Jonny Bairstow (2), having already been dropped, chopped on off Ngidi, with the score 18/1.

But De Kock received perfect support from new man Breetzke, as they tore into the rest of the powerplay, as they powered their side to 64/1 by the end of it, before powering on to a fantastic 116-run second wicket stand.

A couple of quiet overs from Keshav Maharaj going into the halfway point pulled the hosts back a bit, but De Kock reached a well-deserved half century in the eighth over, before they reached the 10 over mark on 90/1.

They then opened up again, as Codi Yusuf’s 11th went for 13, Maharaj’s 12th for 15, and Ngidi’s 13th for 14, as they cruised past 100 and brought up their century partnership.

But the Capitals then fought back through part timers Bryce Parsons and Wihan Lubbe, as Parsons first had De Kock stumped by keeper Shai Hope, after he came down the wicket, and Lubbe bowled Breetzke with a yorker as the Sunrisers slipped to 134/3.

That brought the inform Hermann in, who picked up where he left off against the Paarl Royals, as well as captain Tristan Stubbs (9), and they added 29 to the total.

But it was a brilliant final three overs from the Capitals that kept the Sunrisers under 200, as just 20 was conceded, while they also picked up three wickets, with Stubbs holing out to Parsons off Mills at deep-backward square leg in the 18th over, before Parsons and Mills teamed up again to get rid of Hermann in the 20th.

SUNRISERS EASTERN CAPE: Jonny Bairstow, Quinton de Kock (wk), Matthew Breetzke, Jordan Hermann, Tristan Stubbs (capt), Marco Jansen, Senuran Muthusamy, Anrich Nortje, Adam Milne, Tharindu Ratnayake, Lewis Gregory

PRETORIA CAPITALS: Will Smeed, Bryce Parsons, Shai Hope (wk), Dewald Brevis, Connor Esterhuizen, Sherfane Rutherford, Wihan Lubbe, Codi Yusuf, Keshav Maharaj (capt), Lungi Ngidi, Tymal Mills