In the blue corner are Pretoria Capitals. In the orange corner are Sunrisers Eastern Cape. Sunrisers are chasing their fourth title, while Capitals are eyeing their first championship.
These are the two teams that will slug it out in this heavyweight Betway SA20 Season 4 Final at a sold-out Newlands on Sunday (15:30pm SAST).
The prize money on offer is R32.5 million for the winners - the second-highest franchise purse behind the IPL - with the remaining teams sharing a sum of R70 million.
The finalists were the best sides in the group stages, with Sunrisers finishing top of the standings and Capitals in second place.
That’s when the tables turned. Despite being overcome twice by the Sunrisers in the group stages, including an overwhelming 10-wicket defeat at home, the boys in sky blue from Pretoria stood up from the canvas to defeat the Orange Army in Qualifier 1 at Kingsmead.
This booked Keshav Maharaj and his men a straight passage to Cape Town, where they have been for the entire week, resting, recuperating and fine-tuning specific skills.
DOING IT THE HARD WAY
The Sunrisers had to do it the hard way after losing Qualifier 1 for the first time. Their vast playoff experience, however, shone through as they held their nerve at the Wanderers to convincingly beat Paarl Royals in Qualifier 2 to secure a fourth consecutive Betway SA20 Final berth.
Captain Tristan Stubbs is beaming with excitement ahead of the chance to clinch an unprecedented third Betway SA20 title.
“It's a final, it's going to be exciting. The boys will be up, there's no question about it,” Stubbs said.
“I think in a final, it's a case of not getting too far ahead of yourselves. You don't look too far ahead. You play the current or in the moment.
“We'll prep like we have for every game and knock out games. You never really try and take your foot off the pedal. If you've got a team on top, you try and, as best you can, keep the pressure on as much as possible.”
Pretoria Capitals captain Keshav Maharaj will be hoping to create happier memories at Newlands after leading Durban’s Super Giants to defeat against the self-same Sunrisers Eastern Cape in the Betway SA20 Season 2 Final at the foot of Table Mountain.
Maharaj certainly has a talent-laden squad at his disposal with young star Dewald Brevis the headline act alongside West Indian superstar Sherfane Rutherford to go one better this time and take the Capitals to their maiden title.
“I think an occasion of this magnitude, the guys naturally rallied up, it's just about staying fresh and having that energy and intensity on the field,” Maharaj said.
'FINAL TOUCHES'
“Obviously, we know the Sunrisers have been here four times, so it's making sure that we match their energy or try to raise it from that perspective, but I think the boys are ready to go, putting the final touches into place and hopefully hit the ground running.”
The match will be broadcast live on SuperSport in Sub-Saharan Africa, giving viewers unprecedented access with the match going live on SuperSport Grandstand (201), Variety 4 (209) and SuperSport Cricket (211). The match will also be available in three languages – English, Afrikaans and Xhosa. The final list of broadcasters covering the match across the globe are:
Globally, you can watch all the BetwaySA20 Final action live on JioStar (Star Sports on SS2 (English & Hindi) and JioHotstar, Sky Sports Cricket, FOX Sports, Apex Sports (Geo Super, Myco & Tapmad), Triller and Willow by Cricbuzz.
Gates open at 12h30 and fans are encouraged to arrive early to watch the opening ceremony and make the best of the Betway SA20 Final entertainment.
Extra tickets released
Following final stakeholder allocation releases, a limited number of tickets to the Betway SA20 Final have been released. Tickets are available here - https://sa20.mobi/Season4Tickets.
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