Staff Reporter.
Sunrisers Eastern Cape put on a solid seam-bowling display to overcome MI Cape Town by four runs in their Betway SA20 clash in Gqeberha on Saturday.
Two wickets by Ottniel Baartman, along with one each by Dan Worrall, Marco Jansen, Liam Dawson, and Aiden Markram were enough as MICT skipper Kieron Pollard and Sam Curran each scored 30 runs each, top-scoring for their side as SEC restricted the visiting side to 171 for seven.
Earlier, half-centuries by Sunrisers’ batters Tom Abell and skipper Aiden Markram helped the hosts post a competitive 175 for six from their 20 overs.
In front of their vocal Orange Army supporters, Abell hit 60 runs from 44 balls, while Markram scored 54 from 32, hitting two boundaries and two sixes along the way.
Chasing 176 runs for victory, the hosts lost Rassie van der Dussen for a double, run out by Tom Abell before Liam Livingstone and Ryan Rickelton anchored the innings with a brief 33 from 21 balls.
Rickelton fell when he was caught by Liam Dawson off Marco Jansen for 27 before Livingstone and Sam Curran took their side past the 50-run mark.
The right-hander, who shared 36 with Livingstone, would eventually perish at the hands of the returning Ottniel Baartman for 26 as MICT found themselves on 79 for three at the halfway stage, still needing 97 runs for victory.
Curran hit three fours and a six, scoring 30 from 21 before Liam Dawson had him caught by wicketkeeper Tristan Stubbs.
Dewald Brevis joined skipper Kieron Pollard in the middle and took their team past 100 in the 14th over.
The duo shared 42 runs before Brevis was Baartman’s second victim of the match, caught by Stubbs.
With 26 runs to get from the final 12 deliveries, Baartman conceded just eight runs in the penultimate over and should have had a third wicket when a catch was dropped in the deep.
Worrall, defending 18 runs, took his second wicket off the first ball of the over, removing Delano Potgieter for four runs before conceding 10 runs in the two balls that followed.
However, he also affected the run out of Pollard off the penultimate ball of the match while conceding just 13 runs to see his side over the line.
Batting First
Winning the toss and electing to bat first, the home side lost Jordan Hermann for a brace, bowled by Proteas speedster Kagiso Rabada before Dawid Malan and Abell combined to share a solid half-century stand for the second wicket.
Malan played patiently, facing 22 balls for his 18 runs, and hitting two boundaries before MICT legspinner Thomas Kaber got rid of the left-hander, caught by Delano Potgieter with SEC on 65 for two after 8.5 overs.
Abell continued to torment the bowlers, hitting eight boundaries and a six on his way to 60 from 44 balls, while sharing 65 runs from 35 balls with Markram.
Abell perished when he tried to deposit Pollard over the boundary, but only succeeded in picking out Brevis in the deep, with the home side on 127 for three.
Markram and Stubbs combined for a brisk 42 from 25 balls before the pair fell in consecutive overs having guided their side past 150.
The captain fell shortly after reaching his milestone in the 19th over, caught by Pollard off Rabada before Stubbs (23) and Jansen (1) fell in the final over bowled by Nuwan Thushana.
Rabada and Thushana recorded figures of 2-26 and 2-32 from a combined seven overs, Pollard and Kaber registered 1-16 and 1-30 respectively.
Sunrisers: Dawid Malan, Jordan Hermann, Tom Abell, Aiden Markram*, Tristan Stubbs(wk), Liam Dawson Marco Jansen, Patrick Kruger, Simon Harmer, Ottneil Baartman, Dan Worrall
MI Cape Town: Keiron Pollard*, Liam Livingstone, Kagiso Rabada, Sam Curran, Dewald Brevis, Rassie van der Dussen, Ryan Rickelton(wk), George Linde, Delano Potgieter, Thomas Kaber, Nuwan Thushara.