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De Zorzi the star as Sunrisers beat Royals to reach third consecutive SA20 final

football06 February 2025 19:46| © MWP
By:Patrick Compton
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Player of the match Tony de Zorzi and Jordan Hermann struck brillant half-centuries to enable Sunrisers Eastern Cape to beat Paarl Royals by eight wickets with four balls to spare in the second Qualifier – in the tournament’s 100th match – at Centurion on Thursday night.

It’s been another remarkable performance from the Gqeberha-based outfit that lost their first three games but never their spirit or application.

The two-time champions were playing their second SA20 match in consecutive days and will face another major test on Saturday when they face MI Cape Town in the final at the Wanderers.

Victory on Saturday will give them a clean sweep of three SA20 trophies.

Sunrisers’ skipper Aiden Markram was delighted with his team’s win.

“I said yesterday that we were trending in the right direction and that continued today,” he said.

“I thought we did well on a good pitch for batting to restrict the Royals to their total although I knew we needed a good start to get to that target. Jordy (Hermann) and Tony (de Zorzi) both played really well and they’ll take a lot of confidence going into the final. Tonight’s performance in general has been a big lift for the guys.”

Facing a tough target of 176 for victory after the Paarl Royals, who won the toss, compiled 175-4 in their 20 overs, the Sunrisers were indebted to a second-wicket stand of 111 between De Zorzi and Hermann, the franchise’s highest for the second wicket in T20s.

De Zorzi, who has struggled in this format, played a sensational innings, striking 11 fours and two sixes in his 49-ball innings.

It was his first half-century in the tournament. He was particularly strong through the covers and square of the wicket on the on-side.

Jordan Hermann had a tough start to his knock, but gradually gained in fluency and confidence, and it was he who got his team over the line in the closing overs, striking Dunith Wellalage for six over long-on in the penultimate over to ease his team’s nerves.

Paceman Kwena Maphaka, bowling the final over when only three were required, thought he had trapped Aiden Markram leg before with his first ball, but the review picked up an edge onto the Sunrisers’ skipper’s pads and the next ball was hammered to the boundary.

Jordan Hermann finished with a superb unbeaten 69 in 48 balls (4x4s, 4x6s) to please his family in the stands whose other interest in the match was Jordan’s brother Rubin who had earlier struck an unbeaten 81 in the Royals innings of 174 for four.

The only two wickets to go down for the Sunrisers were opener David Bedingham for nine to the bowling of Maphaka, and then De Zorzi in the 15th over who was caught on the midwicket boundary off Wellalage.

RUBIN HEROICS NOT ENOUGH FOR ROYALS

Rubin Hermann had earlier struck an unbeaten 81 in 53 balls – his biggest score in the tournament – to lead the Royals to their challenging total.

The match was played on the same pitch that had been used the previous day in the Eliminator won by Sunrisers.

After the early loss of Joe Root’s substitute, Mitchell Owen, caught at slip for a duck off Marco Jansen, the innings was set up by a superb partnership of 99 in 64 balls by Lhuan-dre Pretorius and Rubin Hermann.

The batters matched stroke for stroke, largely against the Sunrisers’ pace attack with skipper Aiden Markram choosing to ignore his successful left-arm spinner, Liam Dawson, because he would have bowled against left-handers.

Dawson eventually did come on, for just four balls, in the penultimate over after Ottneil Baartman had to limp off the field with a hamstring strain.

Otherwise, spin was represented only by Markram who did well to claim 1-24 (the valuable wicket of David Miller) in his four overs.

Pretorius, who played with great maturity, largely restricting himself to orthodox shots, struck a powerful 59 in 41 balls (8x4s, 1x6) before he was caught behind by Tristan Stubbs off Overton, trying to run a delivery down to third man.

Sunrisers briefly came back into the game when Miller and Dinesh Karthik were both leg before sweeping to Markram and Baartman respectively.

But then Andile Phehlukwayo played an excellent cameo at the death (22 off 11 balls) as he and Hermann added 49 in 24 for the fifth wicket.

Curiously, Rubin Hermann was dropped twice in his innings by brother Jordan – both extremely difficult chances on the boundary.

His innings was dotted with eight fours and three sixes, a tremendous effort.

For Sunrisers, Overton matched Markram’s figures of 1-24 but star bowler Jansen had an off-day, going for 43 in his four overs.

PAARL ROYALS: Lhuan-dre Pretorius, Mitchell Owen, Rubin Hermann, Dunith Wellalage, David Miller (capt), Dinesh Karthik (wk), Dayyaan Galiem, Andile Phehlukwayo, Bjorn Fortuin, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Kwena Maphaka

SUNRISERS EASTERN CAPE: Tony de Zorzi, David Bedingham, Jordan Hermann, Tom Abell, Aiden Markram (capt), Tristan Stubbs (wk), Marco Jansen, Liam Dawson, Craig Overton, Ottneil Baartman, Richard Gleeson

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