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Roelof Van der Merwe and Adam Rossington combined to gift Sunrisers Eastern Cape the SA20 trophy in its inaugural season after rocking Pretoria Capitals by four wickets at the Wanderers Stadium on Sunday (February 12).
Bowling first the Netherlands' 38-year-old Van der Merwe unleashed the beast in him to rattle Pretoria's batters riding on an incredible spell of 4/31 as the Wayne Parnell's side was restricted to mere 135. Sisanda Magala and Ottniel Baartman also chipped in with two wickets each while Marco Jansen and Aiden Markram too contributed with one wicket apiece. In reply Markram-led Sunrisers made light work of Pretoria's lowly total with 22 balls to spare, thanks to opener Rossington's cracking knock of 57 off 30.
Chasing 136 runs to win, Sunrisers lost Temba Bavuma in the second over. After that, opener Rossington, who smoked five sixes and four boundaries in his lightning knock, and Jordan Hermann (22 runs) upped the run rate and didn't lose any more wickets inside the powerplay. The two of them etched a partnership of 67 runs for the second wicket.
After Adil Rashid got rid of Hermann in the seventh over, captain Aiden Markram came out with the intent to finish the chase. Rossington was dismissed in the 11th over after scoring 57 runs. As Anrich Nortje got the big wicket, the Sunrisers were already on 103, requiring just 34 runs more to win in 9.5 overs.
Sunrisers lost quick wickets in the form of Markram (26), Jordan Cox (7) and Tristan Stubbs (5), but Marco Jansen smacked an unbeaten 13 runs to take the team across the winning line, to make Sunrisers the maiden winners of SA20 league. For Pretoria Capitals, Anrich Nortje picked up 2 wickets while Eathan Bosch, Adil Rashid, Colin Ingram and James Neesham managed one wicket each.
In the first innings, Roelof van der Merwe picked up 4 wickets, restricting Pretoria Capitals to 135/10 in 19.3 overs. Kusal Mendis was the top scorer for the Capitals with 21 runs while none of the other batters were able to cross the 20-run mark.
Apart from van der Merwe, Sisanda Magala and Ottniel Baartman picked up 2 wickets each while Marco Jansen and Aiden Markram managed 1 wicket each.
Earlier, Sunrisers Eastern Cape captain Aiden Markram won the toss and opted to field first against Pretoria Capitals in the final of SA20 2023. This match was played at The Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg.
