Twitter Reactions: Roelof van der Merwe and Adam Rossington shine as Sunrisers Eastern Cape lift inaugural SA20 title

The veteran all-rounder Roelof van der Merwe took four wickets to help Sunrisers bowl out Pretoria Capitals for just 135 runs while bowling first.

By Sumeet Kavthale

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Sunrisers Eastern Cape
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Sunrisers Eastern Cape. (Photo Source: Twitter/SA20)

Sunrisers Eastern Cape won the inaugural SA20 2023 trophy with a dominant four-wicket win over Pretoria Capitals in the final on Sunday (February 12). Veteran Dutch all-rounder Roelof van der Merwe took four wickets to help Eastern Cape bowl out Pretoria Capitals for just 135 runs while bowling first and was awarded the Player of the Match in the final.

Then the English opener Adam Rossington smashed 57 off 30 to guide Sunrisers to title glory in the inaugural edition of the tournament. Aiden Markram was adjudged the Player of the Tournament.

Aiden Markram won the toss and elected to field first at the Wanderers in Johannesburg. For the Capitals, regular captain Wayne Parnell returned from his injury while the Sunrisers remained unchanged after their thrilling 14-run win over Joburg Super Kings.

Kusal Mendis started well with one four and a six but failed to convert his good start into a big knock. Ottniel Baartman dismissed Kusal in the fourth over to give Sunrisers an opening and van der Merwe bowled out dangerous Phil Salt in the next over to put Capitals under pressure.

Ther Capitals batters struggled to form any meaningful partnership after early dismissals. The Kiwi all-rounder James Neesham jointly top-scored 19 off 21 and Rilee Rossouw smashed 19 off 11 but they never managed to score consistently. Roelof took four for 31 and Baartmann and Sisanda Magala took two wickets each to bowl out Capitals for just 135 runs in 19.3 overs.

Eathan Bosch gave some early hopes for Capitals with Temba Bavuma's early wicket in the second over. But Adam Rossington avoided further pressure with an impressive knock. He pulled off a match-defining 67-run partnership for the second wicket with Jordan Hermann to keep Sunrisers in the driving seat.

Adil Rashid dismissed Hermann in the seventh over, Hermann scored 22 off 17 but Rossington managed to smash his second fifty in the tournament. Rossington completed his fifty off just 20 balls and scored 57 off 30 before getting caught out to Anrich Nortje's delivery in the 11th over. Markram continued his red-hot form with another crucial knock of 26 off 19.

Nortje and Adil Rashid put in some impressive spells as Sunrisers reached closer to the target. But Sunrisers managed to ease to the target with Marco Jansen finishing the game with a four and six off Neesham with 22 balls remaining. Nortje took two for 21 and finished the season as the joint-highest leading wicket-taker with van der Merwe with 20 wickets in SA20 2023.

Here is how Twitter reacted to Sunrisers Eastern Cape's win over Pretoria Capitals in SA20 2023 Final:

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SA20 2024Pretoria CapitalsSunrisers Eastern CapeRoelof van der MerweAdam Rossington