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Sunrisers Eastern Cape blew away Paarl Royals in the Qualifier 2 of the SA20, riding on Tony de Zorzi’s attacking 49-ball 78 run knock to make it to their third straight final and set up a date with MI Cape Town on Saturday.
Tony de Zorzi struck 11 fours and two sixes. (Image Credit: Sportzpics)
Sunrisers Eastern Cape blew away Paarl Royals in the Qualifier 2 of the SA20, riding on Tony de Zorzi’s attacking 49-ball 78 run knock, to make it to their third straight final to meet MI Cape Town on Saturday for the summit clash.
Zorzi and Jordan Hermann combined for a match-winning stand of 111 off 67 balls for the second wicket after Kwena Maphaka had provided the early breakthrough in the fourth over in the form of David Bedingham 9 (8). However, that was the last of Paarl Royals celebration for the remainder of the game as de Zorzi tore into the Royals’ attack clobbering 11 fours and two sixes.
Hermann then steered the innings as the raucous Supersport Centurion crowd cheered every SEC run. And while Jordan would be happy man, the Hermann family would have mixed reactions as his younger brother Rubin’s marvellous 53-ball 81 for the Royals went in vain.
After opting to bat, on what looked a belter of a batting track, Royals’ had posted 175/4. A day earlier, SEC had clobbered 184 on the same track, so the Royals’ score looked a tad short and it eventually proved that way.
18-year-old Lhuan-dre Pretorius, the find of the tournament this year, combined well with Rubin after the early blows of Mitchell Owen (0), adding 99 runs for the second wicket, but when Royals’ hoped Pretorius will provide the impetus for the big-hitters, he was caught out for 59 off Craig Overton. David Miller went for 2 off 3 – lbw by Markram – and Dinesh Karthik perished an over later, for 2, to Ottneil Baartman, thus derailing Royals’ innings.
Even though Royals managed 51 in the last four overs, with Andile Phehlukwayo’s breezy 11-ball 22 and Rubin remaining unbeaten on 53 off 81, SEC would have been the happier team heading into the break.
In reply, Royals were hit by De Zorzi and by the time he departed in the 15th over, SEC had the game in the bag at 138/2, with 38 runs to win from 34 balls. Jordan got to his second fifty of the tournament and second against Paarl Royals as alongside skipper Markram (11*) he got SEC home in the final over.
Brief Scores: Paarl Royals 175/4 (Rubin Hermann 81*, Lhuan-dre Pretorious 59; Craig Overton 1/24) lost to Sunrisers Eastern Cape 177/2 (Tony de Zorzi 78, Jordan Hermann 69*; Dunith Wellalage 1/26) by 8 wickets.
- Location :
Pretoria (South Africa)
