Stubbs hasn’t lit up this year’s tournament in the manner he’d have hoped, but on Saturday bided his time until the final over, which strangely was bowled by Owen, who’d only arrived in the country on Thursday, with Lungi Ngidi, who bowled two overs, looking on from the boundary.
Stubbs smashed three consecutive sixes, finishing with 43 off 27 balls — 22 of those runs coming off the last five balls he faced. It allowed the Sunrisers to reach a competitive total of 148/8, a score their much-vaunted bowling unit was able to turn into a winning one.
Missing David Miller, who has a groin problem, and Dinesh Karthik, who was rested, the Royals could only scratch together one partnership of note: a 49-run stand for the sixth wicket between Rubin Hermann and Phehlukwayo that briefly raised their hopes.
But back-to-back wickets for Markram in the 13th over snuffed out those hopes and allowed the home team to celebrate with their vocal supporters.
Sunrisers back to dominant form in victory over Royals
Sports reporter
Image: SportzPics/SA20
Two-time defending champions the Sunrisers Eastern Cape gave themselves a timely boost in confidence with a thumping 48-run victory over Paarl Royals in front of a partisan St George’s Park crowd on Saturday.
In a match that lacked quality, especially with the bat, the Sunrisers made 148/8, an innings that started sluggishly and then finished explosively thanks to a 23-run final over inspired by Tristan Stubbs.
The Royals, who included Australian Big Bash hero Mitchell Owen, could never get their innings going, with their run-chase blown to smithereens inside the power play when they sunk to 22/5.
Three wickets for Englishman Craig Overton, playing in his third match in the competition this year, and two to the ever-dangerous Marco Jansen, provided Aiden Markram’s team with immediate control and allowed the band to turn the volume up as they celebrated the Sunrisers’ last home match in this season's competition.
They will face the Joburg Super Kings in the "eliminator" at SuperSport Park on Wednesday.
The Royals will open the playoffs against MI Cape Town in the "qualifier" in Gqeberha on Tuesday. The winner of that match goes straight into next Saturday’s final, while the loser gets a second bite of the cherry in the second "eliminator" that will be played in Centurion on Thursday.
The Sunrisers will hope that before then they can solve their top-order problems, which continued to hamper them on Saturday when they lost two wickets inside the power play.
Tony de Zorzi, called in as a replacement for Patrick Kruger but slotted in at the top of the innings in place of the out-of-form Zak Crawley, followed up his innings of two from his first match by making just eight before cutting Bjorn Fortuin to Andile Phehlukwayo at point.
The Sunrisers were heavily reliant on Jordan Hermann’s timely return to form, with the little left-hander making 53 off 38 balls to keep the innings on track.
The Royals were in the ascendancy thanks to Fortuin’s two wickets in the power play, while Mujeeb Ur Rahman, despite going wicketless, kept a check on the scoring rate.
Stubbs hasn’t lit up this year’s tournament in the manner he’d have hoped, but on Saturday bided his time until the final over, which strangely was bowled by Owen, who’d only arrived in the country on Thursday, with Lungi Ngidi, who bowled two overs, looking on from the boundary.
Stubbs smashed three consecutive sixes, finishing with 43 off 27 balls — 22 of those runs coming off the last five balls he faced. It allowed the Sunrisers to reach a competitive total of 148/8, a score their much-vaunted bowling unit was able to turn into a winning one.
Missing David Miller, who has a groin problem, and Dinesh Karthik, who was rested, the Royals could only scratch together one partnership of note: a 49-run stand for the sixth wicket between Rubin Hermann and Phehlukwayo that briefly raised their hopes.
But back-to-back wickets for Markram in the 13th over snuffed out those hopes and allowed the home team to celebrate with their vocal supporters.
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