Cricket
SA20: Sunrisers Eastern Cape Book Place In Qualifier After Paarl Royals Demolition
The Sunrisers Eastern Cape smashed the Paarl Royals by 44 runs to cement their spot in the top-two of the SA20 League standings and a place in the qualifier.
The Sunrisers Eastern Cape smashed the Paarl Royals by 44 runs to cement their spot in the top-two of the SA20 League standings and a place in the qualifier.
The Sunrisers outplayed their rivals for the qualifier spot at a steaming hot Boland Park in Paarl. The Eastern Cape team will now play the Durban Super Giants on Wednesday in Cape Town for a place in the final, which will also be played at Newlands.
The loser of the qualifier will have a another chance to make the final, as they will play the winner of the eliminator, which will be contested by the third and fourth-placed teams.
The Royals will finish in third place, even though they face the Sunrisers again on Sunday at St George's Park. However, they will have to wait for Saturday's games to find out who they will play, with MI Cape Town, the Joburg Super Kings, and the Pretoria Capitals all still in the running.
The Sunrisers have played some good cricket over the last few weeks, but saved their best for thus crunch game. Their 208/4 is a record at this ground, surpassing the 190 the Super Gants scored at their home ground not too long ago.
The Royals' bowlers have gone off the boil off late, conceding 22 extras, including 15 wides against the Sunrisers.
It was mainly because of the pressure they were put under by the Sunrisers batsmen, with all-rounder Marco Jansen scoring a brilliant 71 off 31 balls.
The Royals made a very good start, but their top-heavy batting line-up again failed to deliver, as they slumped to 164/7 in their 20 overs, giving the Paarl crowd a rather somber send off.
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John Goliath is a copywriter and editor with 20 years' experience in the sports media industry. John, a Tottenham Hotspur tragic, studied journalism in the Cape Peninsula University of Technology and has worked for two of the biggest media houses in South Africa.