SEC make it to their 4th straight Final by beating Paarl Royals as their spinners took combined figures of 10-1-47-4 to set up win.
After reaching their fourth consecutive final since the league’s founding in 2023, Sunrisers Eastern Cape (SEC) will have an opportunity to win their third SA20 championship. After eliminating Paarl Royals (PR) in Qualifier 2 on Friday, SEC will play Pretoria Capitals again in the final on Sunday in Cape Town after losing Qualifier 1.
On a dry Wanderers field with lots of turn and varying bounce, left-arm spinners Senuran Muthusamy and James Coles suffocated PR. Coles finished his quota with 1 for 15, including a maiden, while Muthusamy claimed 3 for 15 in his four overs. With an undefeated half-century, wicketkeeper-opener Kyle Verreynne overcame the circumstances and reduced PR to 114 for 7.
Despite PR’s three powerplay goals, it was not competitive. However, SEC ultimately finished the chase with 50 balls remaining and seven wickets. Coles made a significant contribution with the bat after making an impression with the ball, going undefeated on 45 from 19 balls.
Following PR’s decision to bat, Lutho Sipamla, who had taken Lewis Gregory’s position, removed Lhuan-dre Pretorius for three off eight balls in the second over. Anrich Nortje then used a short ball that stood up in the pitch to draw a top edge from Rubin Hermann. Then, Muthusamy and Coles worked incredibly well together to destroy PR’s middle order.
In the SA20, SEC has always placed a high value on left-arm spin. Following in the footsteps of Liam Dawson and Roelof van der Merwe, Muthusamy and Coles also received help from Chris Green. On Friday, the spinners’ combined statistics were 10-1-47-4.
In contrast to PR in the first innings, SEC shown attacking intent against the hard, new ball during the chase. In the first over, Quinton de Kock hit Bjorn Fortuin for three fours. In the second over, he hit Hardus Viljoen for two sixes and a four before Fortuin dismissed him for 25 off 12 balls. Fortuin used a similar non-turning slider to trap Johnny Bairstow lbw in the same over.
Additionally, Wanderers’ circumstances had significantly changed. A graphic on the host broadcast showed that in the first innings, SEC’s spinners produced an astounding 5.1 degrees of average turn, while PR’s spinners produced just 1.8 degrees.
Coles demonstrated to everyone why coach Adi Birrell, who has also worked with him at Southern Brave in the Hundred, thinks highly of him by finishing the game with a powerful six.