Sunrisers decide to bat against Royals

The Sunrisers Eastern Cape have won the toss and have elected to bat first against the Paarl Royals in the third match of the Betway SA20 at Boland Park in Paarl on Friday afternoon.

The Sunrisers will be hoping to continue their dominance over the Royals, having won four of the last five matches in the SA20, with the Royals last success coming in January 2025 – a nine-wicket victory here in Paarl.

Aiden Markram, now captain of the Durban Super Giants, top-scored with a fantastic 82 from only 49 balls as SEC posted a competitive 175 for five. In response, Lhuan-dre Pretorius smashed a 51-ball 97, which included 10 fours and six maximums in an opening stand of 132 with Joe Root (62 not out) to lay the foundation for the win.

The Royals lost their last two league games in the last campaign to end second on the log, and then proceeded to succumb to eventual winners, MI Cape Town, in the first Qualifier and then lost their second bite at the final, going down by eight wickets to the Sunrisers in the second Qualifier.

The hosts have some big-hitters in their ranks, with captain David Miller, Rubin Hermann, Delano Potgieter and Kyle Verrerynne joining opener Pretorius. Their bowling attack has some experienced campaigners with Ottneil Baartman, Bjorn Fortuin and Hardus Viljoen joined by the young Nqaba Peter and left-arm seamer, Eshan Malinga.

Captaincy for the visitors falls on the shoulders of Tristan Stubbs, with the departure of Markram to DSG, and Stubbs will be hoping that Jonny Bairstow, Quinton de Kock and Matthew Breetzke can add some stability and firepower upfront.

Marco Jansen, the tournament’s leading wicket-taker, leads the line alongside Senuran Muthusamy, Patrick Kruger and Anrich Nortje. Lutho Sipamla will be hoping to pick up some wisdom from Chris Wood and Adam Milne.

PAARL ROYALS: Vishen Halambage, Lhuan-dre Pretorius, Asa Tribe, Rubin Hermann, Kyle Verreynne (wk), David Miller (capt), Delano Potgieter, Bjorn Fortuin, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Nqobani Mokoena, Ottneil Baartman.

SUNRISERS EASTERN CAPE: Jonny Bairstow, Quinton de Kock (wk), Matthew Breetzke, Jordan Hermann, Tristan Stubbs (capt), Marco Jansen, Senuran Muthusamy, Anrich Nortje, Adam Milne, Tharindu Ratnayake, Lewis Gregory.