Sunrisers Eastern Cape batter Jordan Hermann wore a smile of both satisfaction and relief after producing a player-of-the-match performance in the team’s impressive 48-run bonus-point victory over the Paarl Royals at St George’s Park in Gqeberha on Saturday afternoon.
Hermann, who admitted to being in a bit of a hole, having struggled to score at various positions in the batting order during this campaign, broke the shackles in the number three spot with a timely 53 in 38 balls to help the Sunrisers to victory in their final league stage game.
“I was in a pretty dark space early on. It feels nice to contribute to the team,” he said after the game.
The 23-year-old left-hander has now been used in positions one, two, three, four and five in the eight games he has played.
In one of the games against the Joburg Super Kings, he was shifted down the order and didn’t get to bat even though the Sunrisers were four down at the end of their innings.
Before Saturday, he had only scored 52 runs in six innings at an average of 8.66.
But some hard graft in the nets finally paid off in front of the raucous Orange Army.
“I have been batting well in the nets and luckily, I could make a contribution to a winning cause today.
Asked if he thought he would play again this season, Hermann said: “There is always a chance, there were lots of changes going around, venue-specific changes too.”
It was a timely return to form for Hermann with the third-placed Sunrisers heading to Centurion this week for Wednesday’s Eliminator fixture against the Joburg Super Kings, who finished fourth.
On Thursday, the winner of that game stays in Centurion to play against the loser from Tuesday night’s Qualifier 1 between MI Cape Town and the Paarl Royals at St George’s Park for a spot in the final in Johannesburg on Saturday.
Tristan Stubbs is another batter starting to hit his straps at the right time for the Risers.
The strapping right-hander clubbed 43 in 27 balls, including 22 off the first four balls of the last over, and batting coach Russell Domingo is expecting big things in the playoff stages.
“He’s getting there. He’s getting better,” Domingo said.
“Confidence is such a big thing, and he’s gained a little bit of that and he’s finding the middle of the bat a little more consistently.
“Look, he’s one of the best finishers in SA. Him finding some form in what is a knockout game on Wednesday is going to be massively important for us.”
Hermann stakes his claim for knockout stages
Young left-hander scores timely 53 in 38 balls to help the Sunrisers to victory in their final league phase game
Sports editor
Image: RON GAUNT/SA20
Sunrisers Eastern Cape batter Jordan Hermann wore a smile of both satisfaction and relief after producing a player-of-the-match performance in the team’s impressive 48-run bonus-point victory over the Paarl Royals at St George’s Park in Gqeberha on Saturday afternoon.
Hermann, who admitted to being in a bit of a hole, having struggled to score at various positions in the batting order during this campaign, broke the shackles in the number three spot with a timely 53 in 38 balls to help the Sunrisers to victory in their final league stage game.
“I was in a pretty dark space early on. It feels nice to contribute to the team,” he said after the game.
The 23-year-old left-hander has now been used in positions one, two, three, four and five in the eight games he has played.
In one of the games against the Joburg Super Kings, he was shifted down the order and didn’t get to bat even though the Sunrisers were four down at the end of their innings.
Before Saturday, he had only scored 52 runs in six innings at an average of 8.66.
But some hard graft in the nets finally paid off in front of the raucous Orange Army.
“I have been batting well in the nets and luckily, I could make a contribution to a winning cause today.
Asked if he thought he would play again this season, Hermann said: “There is always a chance, there were lots of changes going around, venue-specific changes too.”
It was a timely return to form for Hermann with the third-placed Sunrisers heading to Centurion this week for Wednesday’s Eliminator fixture against the Joburg Super Kings, who finished fourth.
On Thursday, the winner of that game stays in Centurion to play against the loser from Tuesday night’s Qualifier 1 between MI Cape Town and the Paarl Royals at St George’s Park for a spot in the final in Johannesburg on Saturday.
Tristan Stubbs is another batter starting to hit his straps at the right time for the Risers.
The strapping right-hander clubbed 43 in 27 balls, including 22 off the first four balls of the last over, and batting coach Russell Domingo is expecting big things in the playoff stages.
“He’s getting there. He’s getting better,” Domingo said.
“Confidence is such a big thing, and he’s gained a little bit of that and he’s finding the middle of the bat a little more consistently.
“Look, he’s one of the best finishers in SA. Him finding some form in what is a knockout game on Wednesday is going to be massively important for us.”
Image: RICHARD HUGGARD/SA20
The Sunrisers made 148 for eight after choosing to bat first. For once the power play lacked the frenetic loss of wickets of previous games as they reached 50 for two after six overs.
They got to 80 for three through 10 overs and were looking set for 160-plus.
“From the start we had, where he had 80 after 10 and we were in a good position,” Domingo said.
“We were thinking we had to get over 160. At the start of the game, we were probably looking for 150 to 160 because that’s the nature of the pitch at St George’s Park.
“So, we were probably 10 or 15 short of where we should have been.
“But you never going to play the perfect game.
“We were really happy with the way we started because we haven’t had good starts over the last couple of weeks. Today was a really big improvement.”
Domingo said other teams had also battled with the bat in this year’s tournament.
“It’s not just us that have struggled at the top of the order. A lot of other teams have as well.
“Paarl and MICT have been the two consistent teams, and their opening partnerships have started really well.
“But it seems to be a trend throughout the tournament where teams are losing wickets up front and it’s obviously something we’ve been trying to address and get better at.”
The Herald
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