SA20: Jonny Bairstow’s brutal over, Quinton de Kock’s class seal Sunrisers’ emphatic win

SA20 Season 4 continued to rewrite the record books as Sunrisers Eastern Cape stormed to a first-ever victory over Pretoria Capitals at Centurion on Monday evening, completing their highest successful run-chase in the league’s history.Chasing a competitive 176 for victory, the Sunrisers made a mockery of the target as openers Quinton de Kock and Jonny Bairstow powered them home with all 10 wickets intact and 13 balls to spare. The emphatic win propelled Tristan Stubbs’ side back to the top of the points table with 17 points.

De Kock was in imperious touch from the outset, setting the tone during the Powerplay with clean striking through the off side. The left-hander launched Lungi Ngidi for a pair of sixes over cover before extending the assault against Lizaad Williams to ensure the Sunrisers seized early control.

He finished unbeaten on 79 from just 41 deliveries, striking five fours and six sixes.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!At the other end, Bairstow initially played second fiddle before unleashing his full range once Capitals captain Keshav Maharaj introduced himself into the attack. The former England World Cup winner tore into the left-arm spinner in the 12th over, smashing five sixes and a boundary to plunder 34 runs — the most expensive over in Betway SA20 history.

Bairstow remained not out on 85 off 44 balls, with eight fours and six towering sixes.Earlier, Sunrisers had laid the foundation with a disciplined bowling and fielding effort to restrict the Capitals to 176/7. While new opener Connor Esterhuizen (52 off 33 balls) and Sherfane Rutherford (47 not out off 22) provided resistance at either end of the innings, the Capitals never fully broke free.Anrich Nortje thrilled the Centurion crowd on his former home ground, consistently breaching the 150 km/h mark to finish with figures of 3/32.

Lewis Gregory was economical and incisive, conceding just 18 runs in his four overs, while Adam Milne picked up 2/36, including the prized scalp of Andre Russell despite going for 22 runs in the penultimate over.The night was capped by a spectacular one-handed diving catch from De Kock, underlining Sunrisers’ all-round dominance. De Kock went on to win the Player of the Match award, polling 91.2 per cent of the fan vote ahead of Esterhuizen, Nortje and Rutherford.Brief Scores Pretoria Capitals: 176 for 7 in 20 overs (Connor Esterhuizen 52; Anrich Nortje 3/32) Sunrisers Eastern Cape: 177 for 0 in 14.2 overs (Jonny Bairstow 85 not out, Quinton de Kock 79 not out)