Stubbs, Breetzke help SEC clinch third SA20 title

It was a day draped in orange, a day for franchises in different parts of the southern hemisphere to extend their dynasties. Hours after Perth Scorchers lifted a sixth BBL title, the Sunrisers Eastern Cape claimed their third SA20 crown from four finals, subduing the Pretoria Capitals in a thriller at Newlands. Leading the Sunrisers through a treacherous chase of 157 were two sons of the Eastern Cape - Tristan Stubbs (63* off 41) and Matthew Breetzke (68* off 49) - who struck half-centuries in a blistering 114-run stand off just 64 deliveries, turbocharging a chase that had spent most of its runtime mired in quicksand.

Going into the final four overs, SEC needed 56 to win, but crucially, the two Capitals spinners, Keshav Maharaj and Roston Chase, whose eight combined overs had yielded just 50 runs, were done. Capitals skipper Maharaj had to roll the dice, forced to squeeze two overs from either Gideon Peters or Bryce Parsons. Stubbs and Breetzke bided their time, waiting for those moments. But they couldn't afford to leave too much behind. To that end, the 17th over from Lizaad Williams proved pivotal. Breetzke found a couple of boundaries while Stubbs chipped in with another, tilting the scales ever so slightly.

Now under pressure, Peters crumbled in the 18th, abandoning the shorter lengths and off-pace variations that had strangled batters all chase. Instead he went full and fast, and the boundaries began to leak. Between them came wides and no-balls, even a dropped catch. The 21-run over meant only 21 were needed from the final two. Lungi Ngidi conceded 12 in the penultimate over, including a last-ball inside edge that raced to the boundary. That left the Capitals with just nine to defend in the final over, and even reverting to spinner Parsons proved futile as captain Stubbs clubbed back-to-back sixes, ensuring that his first half-century of the tournament came on the biggest stage and led to a trophy.

The sensational finish to the match overshadowed two other performances in the first half. Dewald Brevis underscored his status as the league's most paid player by slamming a 56-ball 101 after the Capitals were asked to bat first. But it was another key contribution from Marco Jansen, who bowled as many as 15 dot balls, in his four overs to take 3 for 10 that ultimately kept the Sunrisers not too far away from a win even when their top-order floundered in chase.

Jansen though needed a few deliveries to find his rhythm. He sent a couple of wayward balls down the legside before coaxing Connor Esterhuizen into edging a full ball in the corridor. The Capitals stumbled to 1 for 2 in the next over when Shai Hope chipped a simple catch to Jonny Bairstow at cover off Lutho Sipamla. Though Brevis began his counter-attack in Sipamla's next, cracking three boundaries off the seamer, it wasn't until the final over of the PowerPlay that the Capitals' scoring rate crawled past six.

But the introduction of James Coles proved a misstep from Stubbs as Brevis plundered 20 from the left-arm spinner, bludgeoning drives through the off-side ring and depositing sixes over square leg and long-off with casual violence. With Brevis flying through a 49-run PowerPlay, Bryce Parsons could dig in and anchor one end, though the need for such restraint in modern T20 remains debatable.

Parsons managed a pair of fours and a six in his run-a-ball 30, but the 96-run third-wicket stand belonged entirely to Brevis, who simply refused to let the spinners settle. Even a toe-ended mishit sailed over long-on for six as he brought up a 26-ball half-century. Sunrisers finally broke through when Parsons was caught short by a flat throw from Breetzke in the deep. The Capitals lost Jordan Cox to another run-out in the next over, the 14th of the innings, but those twin dismissals couldn't slow Brevis, who launched James Coles inside-out over extra cover for an 86-metre six that carried him past 80.

Sherfane Rutherford started brilliantly, slogging Chris Green for two sixes before falling to the excellent Anrich Nortje for an 11-ball 17. Brevis reached his century in the 18th over, swinging the 53rd ball he faced for his seventh six, this one over mid-wicket via a top-edge. As soon as he saw the ball evade the fielder, the 22-year-old unleashed an almighty roar to mark the moment. In the context of the match, in context of the state he walked in, it was monumental. At that stage, the Capitals looked destined for a score well beyond 180, but Jansen had other ideas. He produced a sensational 19th over - a double-wicket maiden - to finish with figures of 3 for 10 while Nortje followed with just two runs in the 20th over to restrict the Capitals to 158.

The tame finish meant Brevis had scored 101 off 56 while the rest of the Capitals batters managed only 55 off 64 between them. On most days in modern T20, that statistic becomes a dissection point, and so it proved to be.

Brief scores: Pretoria Capitals 158/7 in 20 overs (Dewald Brevis 101; Marco Jansen 3-10, Anrich Nortje 1-19) lost to Sunrisers Eastern Cape 162/4 in 19.2 overs (Matthew Breetzke 68*, Tristan Stubbs 63*; Keshav Maharaj 1-23) by six wickets.