Century at Newlands was a special moment, says Hermann

While achieving personal accolades is always special, positively contributing to a team victory meant more in the greater scheme of things, Sunrisers Eastern Cape batter Jordan Hermann said.

The lefthander played the innings of his life at Newlands in Cape Town on Tuesday, scoring his maiden T20 ton to help his side post 202/2 in the Betway SA20 clash against MI Cape Town.

Chasing 203 for victory, the home side looked on course to chase down the tricky target, thanks to a blistering start by an in-form Ryan Rickelton and Rassie van der Dussen who shared 108 runs for the opening wicket.

However, a four-over period in which the men in blue lost four wickets for just 16 runs, saw them fall just four runs short as the defending champions registered their first win of the campaign.

Opener Hermann’s unbeaten 106 saw him become the fifth batsman to record a three-figure score in the two seasons of the competition. 

His score is the second highest in the competition, joining the likes of Van der Dussen whose ton came earlier in the 2024 competition, while Heinrich Klaasen, Faf du Plessis and Aiden Markram reached the milestone in season one.

“I thought about it briefly, of the guys who have made hundreds previously, I’m probably the odd one out there.

“It was very special [to reach the milestone] and I’m just grateful we managed to end up on the winning side, otherwise it would have been pointless.

“I’m more focused on what it means for the team, getting us to a win was the most important thing.

“I’m proud of how we bowled with Ottneil Baartman at the death and how he was nailing those Yorkers, how we are starting to get our [skills] execution right and I don’t really want to focus on personal milestones, but rather how the team does,” he said.

Hermann and fellow opener Dawid Malan, who made his debut in the colours of SEC, shared 138 runs for the first wicket, of which Malan recorded his maiden half-century for the men in orange.

“There is a reason he was the number one T20 batsman in the world,” Hermann said of Malan at the other end.

“He kept me calm, kept me in the moment and made sure that I knew where I wanted to hit the ball.

“It is just so awesome to play alongside someone who can take a lot of pressure off of you and make you calm at the same time.”

Hermann admitted he may have got  briefly lost in the occasion at a packed Newlands, but knew that he still had an important job to do for his team.

“I was probably not thinking as clearly as I should, [not] trying different options, the pressure got to me but it is something I will learn from going forward.

“I’ve worked a lot with the coaches in terms of trying and training different [shot] options, thankfully they were keen enough to throw to me that long so I could train my options.

“The crowd can eat you up if you don’t stay in the moment and focus on yourself and what you need to do, however, I also say that placing the focus on the team as opposed to individuals also makes things a lot easier,” Hermann said.

SEC next play Durban’s Super Giants at Kingsmead on Saturday (from 1.30pm).

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