Patience pays off: Pretoria Capitals hold the winning hand ahead of SA20 final

The Pretoria Capitals (PC) have all the cards stacked in their favour after booking an early ticket to the SA20 final. Whichever team they face on Sunday, will have to deal with not only a confident PC outfit but also the looming threat of physical fatigue.

Ultimately, PC's seven-wicket victory over Sunrisers Eastern Cape (SEC) in Qualifier 1 earlier this week boiled down to patience. There was a point in the game where it looked as though SEC were going to set a target in excess of 190 runs — a total that would have almost certainly taken the match away from the Capitals.

During Jordan Hermann and Jonny Bairstow's 81-run stand, the pair scored at over eight runs an over, touching the nine runs an over mark at one stage and putting the PC's bowlers under immense pressure.

However, PC captain Keshav Maharaj kept his cool, even in the absence of his go-to bowler Lungi Ngidi, who walked off the field after bowling only two overs due to what appeared to be a knee niggle.

By maintaining their composure during pressure moments and utilising some shrewd bowling changes from Maharaj, the Capitals shifted the momentum. They restricted the Sunrisers to 170, a target they chased down with nine balls remaining to spare to secure their spot in the final.

It was the type of victory that will bode well for the squad’s confidence as it proved that regardless of who they face on Sunday, they possess the temperament to chase down totals in high-pressure scenarios.

"I'm glad we chased here," Dewald Brevis, who smashed a match-winning 75 runs off 38 ball, said after the match.

"We've batted first out there, and we've chased. I think that gives us a lot of confidence going into the final."

Despite the T20 format being known for its high-paced nature, the Capitals proved that the shortest version of the game still rewards core principles, including patience.

Heading into the final, PC will also have sufficient time to recover from the almost non-stop action of the past month — a factor that provides a significant advantage. By contrast, their eventual opponents – one of SEC, Paarl Royals (PR) or Joburg Super Kings (JSK) — will enter the clash with very little respite.

Qualifier 2 is scheduled for Friday evening — SEC already confirmed to play against the winner of  PRvJSK — meaning the winner will have to travel to Cape Town on Saturday, just 24 hours before the main event, having already survived a gauntlet of a week.