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2022/23 SA 20
Twenty20 format
Final
Pretoria Capitals v Sunrisers Eastern Cape
Wanderers
Johannesburg, South Africa
Saturday, 11 February 2023
Pretoria Capitals and Sunrisers Eastern Cape will battle it out for the inaugural
SA 20 title at the Wanderers on Saturday, February 11.
The Gauteng outfit finished top of the standings in the round-robin after winning seven of their 10 matches to advance to the playoffs.
Graham Ford's side beat Paarl Royals by 29 runs in their semi-final tie at the Wanderers, thanks to another dominant display with the ball from Anrich Nortje and Eathan Bosch.
The Capitals batted first and posted 153/8 in their 20 overs as Rilee Rossouw top scored with 56 from 41 balls, which included five 4's and three 6's.
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In reply, the Royals were dismissed for 124 runs, with Bosch and Nortje each taking two wickets and picking up the important wickets of Jos Buttler and David Miller respectively.
Proteas quickie Nortje is now the top wicket-taker in the competition with 18 dismissals, while Bosch is fifth in the charts with 14 wickets.
Meanwhile, Sunrisers clinched third place by virtue of their superior net run rate after being tied on 19 points with Paarl Royals (4th) and Durban's Super Giants (5th).
Adrian Birrell's team claimed their maiden victory over Joburg Super Kings in the semi-finals, having lost to them on both occasions in the round-robin.
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Aiden Markram played a captain's knock and hit 100 off 58 deliveries as the Eastern Cape franchise reached 213/5 in their 20 overs.
The Super Kings were restricted to 199/6, with Roelof van der Merwe (2/23) the pick of the bowlers, while Reeza Hendricks (96) fell just four runs short of his century.
Markram moved up to fourth in the top run-scorer charts and is averaging 34 runs in the competition, having scored one half-century and one century.
The Capitals came out on top in both encounters against Sunrisers in the round-robin and will be looking to make it three wins from three in the final.
Pretoria Capitals skipper Theunis de Bruyn admitted the conditions were tricky after it drizzled during the game and left the pitch two-paced but he paid tribute to the bowling department for another "fantastic" performance.
"Very happy, these kinds of wickets bring teams close together. Runs will be less, so it'll be a scrappy affair," De Bruyn said.
"The bowlers are the engine room, they've been fantastic. One more game to go... but we need to stay calm, and if it goes our way it goes our way."
Markram expressed his surprise at scoring a hundred down the order but claimed booking a place in the final meant more to him than the milestone.
"I was telling a couple of the guys now I never really thought I'd get to the three figures, especially batting at four, I didn't believe it could happen," he told SuperSport.
"It helps when you get on a really good pitch and altitude where the ball flies but ultimately the win is meaning a lot more now."
Head-to-Head
Matches - 2
Pretoria Capitals - 2
Sunrisers Eastern Cape - 0
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