With MI Cape Town having already booked their place in Saturday’s Betway SA20 final, it is now the turn of Sunrisers Eastern Cape and Joburg Super Kings to battle it out in the Eliminator at Centurion today.
The winner will face the Paarl Royals tomorrow at Centurion in Qualifier 2, but the loser will have to wait until next season for another opportunity.
Sunrisers Eastern Cape are the double-defending champions and have the experience of winning knockout matches. Captain Aiden Markram, though, believes this counts for nothing on the day.
“It’s a completely new game, you don’t walk on to the field thinking you’re ahead because you’ve been (successful) in that position before,” Markram said.
“We pride ourselves on winning from any position, we will scrap and try to find a way to win.”
The Eliminator is a rematch of the Season 1 semifinal at the same venue when Markram struck a magnificent century to knock out the Joburg Super Kings to advance to the first-ever Betway SA20 final.
Joburg Super Kings skipper Faf du Plessis is wary of history repeating itself, but believes they are prepared for the challenge two seasons on.
“I did think about it when I saw the fixture,” Du Plessis said.
“What happened then was on that day we got outplayed by a special knock, which was a great innings from Aiden. So hopefully it's a little bit different this time around.”
Du Plessis’s greater concern is “right now I'm just trying to think of 11 players to get on the park” after allrounder Donovan Ferreira was ruled out of the knockout clash due to injury.
Ferreira joins a long list of Super Kings such Nandre Burger, Lizaad Williams, Gerald Coetzee, Beuran Hendricks and David Wiese that have already fallen by the wayside.
“It's a big loss. For every injury, you definitely feel the weight of the injury. I think from a positive perspective, we've lost five bowlers already this season,” Du Plessis said.
“But the guys who have stepped up really have been nothing short of remarkable. Lutho Sipamla and Hardus Viljoen have come in and really stepped up.
“That's the nature of sport. Unfortunately, injuries do feel like they come at a big cost.
“But on the flip side of it, it creates an opportunity for someone else on the other side to either take it or not take it. So those two guys have done a great job of taking the opportunities and similarly, someone would have to step up into the big shoes of Donovan.
“But it's a great occasion on a great stage. If you make a play in a big match, a knockout stage, it also has great repercussions for that player. So I see it as a great opportunity for someone else.”