Sunrisers Eastern Cape crush Paarl Royals to seal fourth successive final

Senuran Muthusamy's fine bowling performance and James Coles' all-round show headlined a clinical display from Sunrisers Eastern Cape, who registered a seven-wicket win over Paarl Royals in Qualifier 2 at the Wanderers on Friday (January 23). Muthusamy's 3 for 15 and Coles' 1 for 14 were central to restricting the Royals to 114 for 7, despite Kyle Verreynne's unbeaten 52. Coles then capped a standout evening with a blistering 45 not out off 19 balls, striking four fours and three sixes as Sunrisers raced to the target in 11.4 overs to reach their fourth successive final in the SA20.

Quinton de Kock set the early tempo in the chase as he raced to 25 off 12, including a pair of towering sixes off Hardus Viljoen. Paarl Royals struck back through Bjorn Fortuin in the third over - he had de Kock bowled and then trapped Jonny Bairstow lbw with an arm-ball to give the Royals some hope defending a low total. Jordan Hermann eased the pressure with a string of boundaries before Ottneil Baartman struck in the final over of the PowerPlay to send him back.

The surface, though, began to ease under lights, with less turn on offer compared to the first innings, which allowed the batters to play with freedom. Coles took over after Hermann's dismissal and slammed the contest shut in emphatic fashion. Walking in at 50 for 3, he announced himself with a first-ball six off Baartman and soon tore into Dan Lawrence, collecting boundaries at will in the ninth over that cost 21. Matthew Breetzke, who hit a couple of fours, had the best seat at the non-striker's end as Coles finished it off with a towering blow down the ground off Lhuan-dre Pretorius as the Sunrisers completed a thumping win with more than eight overs to spare.

Earlier, the Royals never recovered from a bruising start after being asked to bat on a dry surface offering sharp turn and variable bounce. Lutho Sipamla struck early to remove Pretorius, while Anrich Nortje and Marco Jansen kept the new batters pinned with pace and bounce. Nortje accounted for Rubin Hermann before Coles and Muthusamy took centre stage. Lawrence got a leading edge trying to flick a Coles delivery while Asa Tribe was smartly stumped by de Kock off Muthusamy. At 34 for 4 inside seven overs, Royals were already scrambling.

Verreynne fought a largely lone battle through the middle overs, showing composure against the spinners and picking his moments to break the shackles. A big six off Coles over extra cover brought up the Royals' fifty, which came only in the 13th over. At the other end, Sikandar Raza struggled to force the pace before being stumped by Muthusamy, who finished with a telling three-wicket haul after getting Rovman Powell caught at slip in the same over. Royals were reduced to 75 for 6 after 15 overs as the boundaries dried up and dot balls mounted.

Verreynne, though, kept finding ways to rotate strike, dragging his side towards a total of some respectability. With some quick boundaries, he raised a gritty half-century off 41 balls, while Fortuin and Viljoen added a couple of boundaries in the final over as Royals limped past 110, a total that proved well short of what was required.

Brief scores: Paarl Royals 114/7 in 20 overs (Kyle Verreynne 52*; Senuran Muthusamy 3-15, Anrich Nortje 2-31) lost to Sunrisers Eastern Cape 117/3 in 11.4 overs (James Coles 45*, Quinton de Kock 25; Bjorn Fortuin 2-26) by 7 wickets.