Sunrisers thrash Capitals to move into second position

A bowling masterclass by Ottniel Baartman and his fellow seamers saw the Sunrisers Eastern Cape claim a convincing nine-wicket win in their Betway SA20 clash against the Pretoria Capitals in Gqeberha on Monday.

With overhead conditions favouring the pace bowlers on a sporting pitch, Baartman looked a cut above the rest as he claimed four wickets for just 12 runs, helping to dismiss the visiting side for a tournament record low of 52 runs in front of a raucous St George’s Park crowd.

He was ably assisted by his seam bowling partners Dan Worrall, Marco Jansen and Patrick Kruger, who shared six wickets for 38 runs.

Chasing the modest total, the Sunrisers lost the services of Dawid Malan, caught by Senuran Muthusamy for two.

Jordan Hermann and Tom Abell took the side to 45/1 after the powerplay, sharing an unbeaten 50 off 35 for the second wicket to see their side home with 13.1 overs to spare.

The win sees the men in orange register their third win in as many matches, with the bonus point win moving them into second spot behind the high-flying Paarl Royals.

Wayne Parnell took 1/19 from two overs, while Daryn Dupavillon and Eathan Bosch registered figures of 0/21 and 0/14 respectively from a combined 4.5 overs.

Earlier, a pace bowling clinic saw the Sunrisers dismiss the Capitals for a measly 52 runs from 13.3 overs, the lowest score by any side in the two years of the competition. 

That easily beat the previous mark of 80 by Durban’s Super Giants against Pretoria Capitals last season.

Winning the toss and choosing to field first, Sunrisers skipper Aiden Markram knew overhead conditions would favour his seamers, and it proved to be a masterstroke as the hosts pinned the Pretoria side down in spectacular fashion.

Having raced to 25 without loss with Phil Salt (10) and Will Jacks (12) in the third over, Worrall, Jansen and Baartman would claim four wickets from the next three overs to have the visitors reeling on 29/4 after the powerplay.

Worrall started the rot, claiming the wicket of Salt before Jansen removed Jacks a ball later.

Worrall claimed a second when he had the dangerous Rilee Rossouw caught on the boundary for a single, before Baartman grabbed his first of the match to dismiss Colin Ingram (1).

Matters would get worse for the visitors when Worrall sent James Neesham packing for two runs, while Baartman took care of Muthusamy (1), as Capitals slipped to 33/6.

Jansen nabbed the scalp of Kyle Verreynne for eight runs, before Baartman and Kruger claimed the last three wickets to wrap up the tail with 6.3 overs to spare.

The sides face each other again on Thursday, this time in Centurion from 5.30pm.