The Sunrisers Eastern Cape dismantled the Durban’s Super Giants in front of their home crowd to win their first match of the SA20 league by 58 runs.
Sunrisers won the toss and chose to bat first. Their first wicket fell in the fourth over to a Naveen-ul-Haq delivery and caught by Noor Ahmed.
In a rematch of last year’s SA20 final, conditions at Kingsmead Stadium favoured the spinners, with bowlers getting massive turn on the ball from early on.
At the end of the powerplay, Sunrisers were 54/1 and maintained a run rate of around eight per over.
That was until DSG’s spinner Ahmed bowled an unplayable delivery to Zack Crawley, hitting the middle stumps.
With the very next ball, Ahmed removed Aiden Markram for a duck with an LBW.
After 10 overs, SEC were on 73/4.
Ahmed’s wristy-leg break snatched four wickets for 25 runs from his four overs, putting up a player of the match performance for his team.
Sunrisers’ middle order pushed through despite Ahmed ripping through them, with Tom Abel anchoring the innings.
Abel and Marco Jansen put up a 50 partnership before Abel became Ahmed’s fourth victim.
The lanky Jansen knocked the ball around the park for his 36/26 before closing the SEC’s innings on 165/5 in 20 overs.
Mid-way through the game, Ahmed told the media he was grateful for the economical spell.
“I just tried to bowl wicket-to-wicket. The pitch was good and supported spinners,” Ahmed said.
DSG’s batting order opened up dismally, after Bryce Parsons was run out by Markram.
The home team’s power play session did not get off with a bang, putting up 40 runs after six overs.
DSG’s hope for victory edged further away after Kane Williamson fell cheaply when he was caught and bowled by Liam Dawson.
Big-hitting Heinrich Klaasen was the next hope for DSG, but the 33-year-old’s poor form continued.
Simon Harmer pitched up a delivery which Klaasen fed into the hands of the SEC captain Markram.
With pressure piling on and the run rate eluding them, DSG batters needed to up the tempo for any chance of victory.
Big-hitting Quinton de Kock was next to go, trying to pulverise an Ottniel Baartman’s delivery but was bowled out instead.
An almost impossible task was ahead for their tail-end, as DSG needed 60 runs off the last three overs.
Sunrisers paceman Richard Gleeson cleaned up the house in the end, taking three wickets in the 18th over.
The homeside were bowled out for 107 runs, losing two games in a row and damping their chances of a SA20 league victory.
SEC claimed their first win of the tournament but still have a lot of work ahead of them, as they remain last of the table.