Watch: Aiden Markram scores stunning century as Sunrisers Eastern Cape book finals berth with Pretoria Capitals in SA20
Sunrisers Eastern Cape beat Joburg Super Kings by 14 runs to book their spot in the final of the inaugural season of SA20. Sunrisers’ captain Aiden Markram scored his maiden T20 century in the semifinal clash against Faf du Plessis-led Super Kings at the SuperSport Park Cricket Stadium in South Africa on Thursday, February 9. The Eastern Cape side will face the league toppers Pretoria Capitals in the first SA20 final which is scheduled to be held at the Wanderers Stadium in South Africa on Saturday.
Markram struck a scintillating 100 off just 58 balls in the Qualifier 2 of the SA20. Apart from him, a couple of cameos from Tristan Stubbs (20) and Jordan Cox (18) helped Sunrisers to post 213/5. Despite Reeza Hendricks’ 54-ball 96, the Super Kings failed to win the game as they finished on 199/6 in the allotted overs.
Super Kings’ captain Faf du Plessis won the toss and chose to field first, with Nandre Burger included in the playing XI replacing Kyle Simmonds. Sunrisers, on the other hand made two changes that lost against the Super Kings in their last group-stage match with Ottniel Baartman and Jordan Cox coming in. Super Kings’ Lizaad Williams dismissed Temba Bavuma f and Adam Rossington in the second over, and the Sunrisers were struggling at 15/2 in two overs. But made an impressive comeback as Markram and Jordan Hermann (48) pulled off a crucial 99-run partnership for the third wicket.
Watch Aiden Markram hits century against Joburg Super Kings
Cometh the hour, cometh the Markram ✨
Cliched, but never been more true 💯#OrangeArmy #SA20 #SEC | @AidzMarkram pic.twitter.com/BB6MDhzI0C
— SunRisers Hyderabad (@SunRisers) February 10, 2023
The final of the SA20 will be quite impressive as the two finalists began the season by squaring off against each other in successive games. The Sunrisers lost both the matches by a significant margin. However, they resurrected their campaign with three wins on the bounce.
The Pretoria Capitals reached the final after winning the first qualifier against Paarl Royals. The Sunrisers didn’t have the smoothest campaign in the inaugural edition, winning four and losing five games during the group stages. The Capitals, on the other hand, lost only three in a total of 10 matches who were table-topping with 32 points.
