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Sunrisers Eastern Cape (SEC) clinched their third SA20 title in four seasons with a memorable six-wicket victory over Pretoria Capitals (PC) at Newlands, overcoming early trouble to chase down 159 with four balls to spare after batting heroics from Matthew Breetzke and captain Tristan Stubbs.
After being put into bat by the SEC captain, Pretoria Capitals were lifted by a brilliant century from Dewald Brevis, who scored 101 off 56 balls, including eight fours and seven sixes, and carried his side to 158 for 7 after they had lost two wickets for just one run on the board early on. Brevis stitched a 96-run partnership with Bryce Parsons and struck the majority of the boundaries in the innings, but received little support from the rest of the lineup. SEC's bowlers kept PC in check throughout, led by Marco Jansen, who produced a superb all-round spell of 3-10 in four overs. Jansen struck once with the new ball and then returned at the death to bowl a decisive double-wicket maiden in the penultimate over. Anrich Nortje (1-19 in four overs) was also impressive, conceding just two runs in the final over as PC managed only three runs across the last two overs. In reply, Sunrisers' chase began nervously as they lost Jonny Bairstow for a golden duck in the very first over and later slipped to 48 for 4 by the ninth over. While Breetzke and Stubbs occupied the crease, Pretoria's spinners, Keshav Maharaj and Roston Chase, tightened the grip and raised the required run rate to around 14 an over with four overs remaining. However, Matthew Breetzke and Tristan Stubbs turned the final on its head with an unbeaten fifth-wicket stand of just 114 balls. Breetzke played the aggressor early, while Stubbs found his rhythm late, punishing the Capitals' bowlers in the final overs. A costly 18th over, which went for 21 runs, swung momentum decisively before Stubbs sealed the win with back-to-back sixes in the final over. While Stubbs finished unbeaten on 643 off 41, including four sixes and two fours, Breetzke remained not out on 68 off 49 balls, including five fours and two sixes. The victory capped another outstanding season for the SEC, who have now appeared in every SA20 final and once again showed their depth and composure on the biggest stage. This year's SA20 tournament's top-scorer Quinton de Kock, was named the 'Player of the Season' for his 390 runs in 11 matches. (ANI)
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