Johannesburg — Johannesburg: The Sunrisers Eastern Cape are on the Betway SA20 board.
It took three games, but when it eventually arrived, it was spectacular with the Sunrisers beating MI Cape Town by four wickets on a thrilling night at St George's Park.
It was only fitting that it was due to the superb all-round performance from Sunrisers captain Aiden Markram.
When a team finds itself in the situation the Sunrisers were after two matches in the competition, it is often the senior players that need to step up in order to avoid a free fall.
And that's exactly what skipper Markram delivered with a bowling performance of 2/8 followed by a half-century off 35 balls.
Fellow Proteas Sarel Erwee (41) and Tristan Stubbs (30 off 18 balls) either side of Markram to help the Sunrisers haul in MI Cape Town's 158/8 with four balls to spare.
The Sunrisers were certainly good value for the victory especially after the bowling unit delivered their best performance of the competition.
They had conceded the tournament's joint-record score on Saturday at Centurion against the Pretoria Capitals, but responded excellently at St George's Park.
🗣️ "We had an awesome crowd here tonight and sort of carried us through the tough times."
— Sunrisers Eastern Cape (@SunrisersEC) January 16, 2023
Captain Markram shares his thoughts following the Risers' win against MI Cape Town at Gqeberha 🫶 #SEC #SunrisersEasternCape #SECvMICT #SA20 #PlayWithFire pic.twitter.com/StB1d7q8R3
Sisanda Magala led the charge with 2/22, while Ottniel Baartman finished wirh 3/45.
The only MI Cape Town batters to offer up any resistance was George Linde with a career-best 63 off 28 balls and Rassie van der Dussen's 29.
MI Cape Town started positively with the ball through England international Sam Curran, who removed both Sunrisers openers Adam Rossington and JJ Smuts cheaply.
And then Odean Smith (3/23) turned the game on its head later on with a few late scalps, but Sunrisers were not going to be denied this time.
IOL Sport