The Sunrisers Eastern Cape will be aiming for a third SA20 title this week despite no home matches in the playoffs for the tournament’s most successful side. The SA20 playoffs have been set as Durban’s Super Giants and defending champions MI Cape Town are the sides who will cease taking part in this season’s competition after finishing fifth and sixth respectively. It’s the third time in four seasons of the tournament that MI Cape Town have finished with the wooden spoon.
The final match of the regular season on Monday in Paarl had Aiden Markram and his Durban’s Super Giants men watching in keen anticipation of a victory for home side Paarl Royals. But the 44-run victory by Joburg Super Kings meant that they successfully sneaked into to the playoff stages. It’s the third successive season that they have made it through as the last qualifying side.
The Super Kings did it against the odds in Paarl, playing with their third captain of the campaign and against a Royals side desperate to finish in the top two in the standings. English opening batter James Vince took the reins on Monday after regular skipper Faf du Plessis suffered a thumb ligament tear. Big hitter Donovan Ferreira took over the captaincy for their penultimate match against the Pretoria Capitals before he sustained a shoulder injury while fielding.
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Ferreira faced one ball while batting before he walked off the field, clutching his arm. In Monday’s match between Paarl Royals and the Super Kings, Paarl captain David Miller didn’t come out bat after hurting his groin in the field. “We’re not sure if he tweaked his groin or if it’s a bit stiff,” was the initial assessment by Royals coach Trevor Penney. “We didn’t want to risk him because he could have potentially ripped it.” Suddenly the Proteas middle order for the T20 World Cup looks bare, with Ferreira and Miller having been locked in for the national side’s starting XI for next month’s tournament.
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