That marks the end of our coverage from the 14th T20 match of the ongoing SA20 2025/26 between Pretoria Capitals and Sunrisers Eastern Cape. Quinton de Kock and Jonny Bairstow showed an absolute batting masterclass to bring the victory for their side by a margin of 10 wickets. For now, this is Saptak Sanyal signing off on behalf of my Co-commentator Karthik Raj and the scorer/analyst of this match Yogesh Kumar.
BIGGEST MARGIN OF VICTORY IN SA20 (BY WICKETS)
Joburg Super Kings vs MI Cape Town, Cape Town, 2024 - 10 wickets
MI Cape Town vs Sunrisers Eastern Cape, Cape Town, 2025 - 10 wickets
Highest Partnership in SA20: 200- Rassie van der Dussen/Ryan Rickelton (MI Cape Town vs Joburg Super Kings, Johannesburg, 2024) 177*- Quinton de Kock/Jonny Bairstow (Sunrisers Eastern Cape vs Pretoria Capitals, Centurion, 2026, TODAY) 157- Reeza Hendricks/Faf du Plessis (Joburg Super Kings vs Durban Super Giants, Johannesburg, 2023)
Quinton de Kock (Player of the Match):"Obviously just getting through the new ball. It always gets better once you bat long. You can always catch up. I wouldn't say I have changed much. Maybe, just a bit clever the way I build my innings. I have tinkered one or two things in my technique, but otherwise kept it simple. I am here to help, also love being part of the group. Couple of youngsters who are developing their own game. Just trying to add a little bit of value that they need."
Quinton de Kock has been named as the 'Player of the Match'.
Tristan Stubbs (Sunrisers Eastern Cape Captain): "We thought it was a bit tacky throughout so the plan was to use the wicket and go from there. We were quite happy as things got better under lights.
The culture is what we enjoy. We are doing as per plans we have got. I have said before. If they (de Kock and Bairstow) keep batting like this, we are happy.
They bowl with so much composure and are continuing to do well. They have done well previously."
Keshav Maharaj (Pretoria Capitals Captain):"Yeah, I always thought 176 was enough. It wasn't a traditional SuperSport Park wicket. There wasn't much energy on the field, things just didn't go our way. Felt we were a touch too full in the beginning. We have to bounce back quickly, have a game on Wednesday. Back to the drawing board and back to basics."
12:12 AM IST and 8:42 PM Local Time: PHEW! Carnage? Toying with the bowling? Whatever you can call it, please call! The Sunrisers Eastern Cape openers have showed some brilliance in batting as they have pulled off a stunning victory. They have toppled the Joburg Super Kings to go at the top of the points table by winning this game by a margin of 10 wickets.
Keshav Maharaj won the toss and elected to bat first. Connor Esterhuizen and Bryce Parsons opened the innings but the latter got out scoring 18 off 15 balls. Esterhuizen struggled a bit earlier in his innings but started doing better as the innings progressed. He lost Shai Hope cheaply by his side but registered 53 runs with Wihan Lubbe(21).
Esterhuizen brought up his half-century but got out soon after. He hit 6 fours and a couple of maximums in his 33-ball stay to score 52 runs. Pretoria Capitals had a loss in momentum as they lost Dewald Brevis(8) and Andre Russell (4) cheaply and got reduced to 133/6. Sherfane Rutherford got a few leading edges and top edges initially but luckily none of them found the fielder. He took 22 runs in the penultimate over and remained unbeaten on 47 off 22 balls from 3 boundaries and 4 maximums and propelled his team to 176/7.
For the Sunrisers Eastern Cape, Anrich Nortje took 3 wickets for 32 runs. Adam Milne took a couple of wickets for 36 runs. Lutho Sipamla and Lewis Gregory took a wicket each.
Sunrisers Eastern Cape came out to bat and got three boundaries early in the innings. One off the bat and two off extras. Quinton de Kock led the charge with the bat early till Jonny Bairstow took his time. But when JB got the momentum, they never looked back! They batted with sheer dominance and brought the boundaries in regular intervals. They brought up the team hundred in the 10th over and then Bairstow took over. He smacked 34 runs off the 12th over bowled by Keshav Maharaj. He got to his fifty in 35 balls and remained unbeaten on 85 off 45 balls hitting 8 fours and 6 maximums. Quinton de Kock remained unbeaten on 79 off 41 balls with 5 fours and 6 maximums and finished the game with 34 balls to go.