Quinton de Kock treated “The Orange Army” to a batting masterclass in the Sunrisers Eastern Cape’s 48-run bonus-point win over the Pretoria Capitals at a rousing St George’s Park on Monday night. The victory propelled the Sunrisers to the top of the Betway SA20 table with 10 points, while the Capitals remain winless after two matches. The Gqeberha locals came out in their thousands to deck South Africa’s oldest Test venue in a sea of orange for the Sunrisers’ first home game of season 4, with the iconic brass band providing a festive atmosphere.
De Kock gave them plenty to cheer, with the left-hander blazing 77 off 47 balls (five fours, six sixes). He struck the ball sweetly from the outset with a few rasping lofted cover drives interspersed with powerful pull shots. Quinton de Kock and Matthew Breetzke waste no time in getting the scoreboard moving 💥💥#BetwaySA20#SECvPC#WelcomeToIncrediblepic.twitter.com/20KED1vSeO Matthew Breetzke (52 off 33 balls) was the perfect partner for De Kock after the early demise of Jonny Bairstow, with the pair putting together an electrifying 116-run partnership off only 70 balls.
This laid the platform for in-form Jordan Hermann (37 off 20 balls) to unleash a series of conventional and reverse sweeps that pushed Sunrisers to an impressive 188/6. The total proved far beyond the reach of the Capitals, with the Sunrisers unleashing their three-pronged pace arsenal of Marco Jansen, Adam Milne and Anrich Nortje. Oh that winning feeling – The Orange Army certainly knows how to celebrate 👏👏#BetwaySA20#SECvPC#WelcomeToIncrediblepic.twitter.com/9aBOmdvqxI Jansen required only six balls to strike the first blow when he removed Capitals opener Bryce Parsons with a rasping delivery the left-hander could only fend off to De Kock behind the stumps.
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Kiwi Milne (4/25) was next in the act when he dismissed West Indian Shai Hope (36 off 19 balls) as he threatened to build an innings of substance. The major breakthrough was left to Lewis Gregory when the Sunrisers all-rounder lured Dewald Brevis (12 off five balls) into taking on the longest boundary in the ground, where Breetzke lay in wait to take a comfortable catch.
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