Match Center

Cricket is such a great leveler, isn't it? Two games that saw the scores being catapulted to big ones yesterday, only to be followed by a low-scoring affair this evening. Well then, Sunrisers Eastern Cape have grabbed the bonus point and with this, they get 5 points which betters their position from the rock-bottom to the fourth spot. As far as the Durban's Super Giants are concerned, they now find themselves languishing at the bottom of the table with just a single win. From here, their journey gets a bit more trickier. That's it from this exciting clash. But worry not folks, the SA20 is approaching its midpoint, and a lot more action and excitement is still left to be cherished from this competition. Next up, is another thrilling clash at the Boland Park in Paarl, where the home team, Paarl Royals take on the Joburg Super Kings. That game will begin on Monday, 20th January and the first ball will be bowled at 3.30 pm GMT. Till then, cheers and take care!

The skipper of Sunrisers Eastern Cape, Aiden Markram says the crowd has been unbelievable. Mentions that they knew that one or two big overs and they'll be home in this chase with a Bonus point. Reckons that the bowlers set up this victory with the way they bowled right at the top. Closes by saying he is excited to play the next few in front of the home crowd.

The captain of Durban's Super Giants, Keshav Maharaj says they expected the wicket to play better with some extra bounce and movement but also accepts that they could have reassessed the conditions much better. He credits the Sunrisers for putting up a dominating performance in the game. Feels that they have not been getting those starts consistently at the top of the order. He also adds that it is all about keeping calm and getting the basics right. Mentions that they have seen the Sunrisers do it for two seasons, coming from the bottom of the table for the last two seasons. Ends by saying that it is a five-match series for them and is hopeful that they can turn it around.

MARCO JANSEN of Sunrisers Eastern Cape is adjudged as the PLAYER OF THE MATCH. Marco is up for a chat and says he has been landing the ball in the right areas and that has worked in his favor. Mentions that it is not easy to bowl in the fielding restrictions, and he just looks to take wickets whenever he is asked to ball. Credits that they have got the best crowd and without them it just doesn't feel the same.

The Presentation Ceremony...

It was a cagy start for the Durban's Super Giants, earlier in the evening. They had the worst of the starts as they lost half of their side within the first ten overs with just 37 on the board. Be it King, Breetzke, QDK, or even Klaasen, nobody could really get going. It was only Kane Williamson from the top four to have made a meaningful contribution, albeit a sedate 44. The bowlers of Sunrisers Eastern Cape were right on the money through and through, as barring Simon Harmer everyone chipped in with a couple of wickets, with Liam Dawson being the most economical of all. He also contributed in the field with a couple of sharp catches. Durban's Super Giants were staring at a double-digit finish, until Naveen-ul-Haq came and struck a quickfire 30 which propelled them to 115, which, in all fairness, was never enough, even on good bowling decks.

The scoring slowed down for a fair bit, but the Sunrisers were always ahead of the game with this target. And due to this, the batters got that extra cushion to bide their time on the crease. The Durban's Super Giants did show some fight, but they also knew, that they were never winning this one without snagging all ten wickets. It was left for Aiden Markram to finish. Although he didn't go berserk from the get go, he did take his time and then went bang bang to wrap things up in style.

But once the ball lost the shine and got a bit older, the batters found it a bit easy to play their strokes against the pacers. David Bedingham got off the blocks and kept the attack from one end, while Abell took all his time to settle himself on the crease. But Keshav Maharaj was never going without a fight as he removed the well-settled Bedingham right after the break. Deploying spin in tandem, the tweakers found that grip off the surface with Noor Ahmad too, striking gold from one end.

Sunrisers Eastern Cape didn't have a huge total on the board to chase. A below run-a-ball is all they were chasing. However, they were interrogated enough by those testing inswingers of Naveen Ul Haq, at which one ball had Crawley's name on it in the very first over. Naveen continued to generate good movement in his first couple of overs and also created a couple of chances which were reversed through the DRS.

SIX! SEE YOU LATER SAYS AIDEN! Short-pitched, around middle and leg, Aiden Markram shimmies down the track and pulls this flat and right off the middle of his bat. The ball goes way too far behind the fence and it has actually landed on the roof of the grandstand towards deep square leg. Sunrisers Eastern Cape win this convincingly by 6 wickets and the cherry on the cake is that they get this win with a BONUS POINT.

WIDE! Bumper, wide down the leg, Aiden Markram ducks down on this. Wided. 5 needed now off this over to get the bonus point.

Full toss on the pads, Marco Jansen moves away and flicks this towards long on for one.

FOUR! SHOT! Overpitched again from JJ, on the stumps, Aiden Markram lofts it over mid on and mid-wicket, clears the in-field for a cracking four.

SIX! BANG! Bonus point is still on! Serves a half-volley on middle and leg, Aiden Markram slogs it powerfully behind deep mid-wicket. Sunrisers Eastern Cape need 11 runs from 7 balls, to win and also get the bonus point.

FOUR! Classic from Markram! Beats King! Tossed up, overpitched on off, Aiden Markram takes his front fot out and lofts it over the bowler's head. Beats the converging Brandon King from long off and gets a boundary.

Length, on off, punched away to widish long off for a single.

Length, on the stumps, Jansen eases it to short mid-wicket.