Durban's Super Giants hold their nerve to edge out Sunrisers Eastern Cape in a SA20 thriller

Durban Super Giants breathed fresh life into their Betway SA20 campaign with a thrilling two-wicket victory over Sunrisers Eastern Cape at St George’s Park on Sunday. 

The visitors required just four runs off the final over, but with only last man Noor Ahmad to come they needed Evan Jones to hold his nerve by striking Anrich Nortje for a boundary.

Tristan Stubbs has largely played a peripheral role thus far this season, but the Sunrisers Eastern Cape captain burst into life with an undefeated 47 off 30 balls to push the table-toppers up to 158/5, but the Super Giants edged home to just three balls to spare. 

Stubbs’ predecessor Aiden Markram returned to St George’s Park for the first time since leaving the Sunrisers and he returned with a vengeance. Markram and opening partner Marques Ackerman rattled off 49 off just 26 deliveries before Marco Jansen claimed an absolute screamer on the boundary off Senuran Muthusamy’s bowling. 

Markram looked set to have struck his first six, but the lanky Jansen ran around the boundary before plucking the ball out of the air like he was picking apples and the DSG skipper had to depart for 25 off 13 balls. 

Ackerman continued the early carnage with 45 off 26 balls before he was clean bowled by Anrich Nortje. 

Sunrisers, though, were slowly working themselves back into the contest due to an excellent spell from left-arm spinner Muthusamy, who utilised the spin-friendly conditions to his advantage. He was rewarded when he picked up the crucial wicket of Jos Buttler (22) off his final ball of his spell to finish with 2/20.

Fellow spinner Tharindu Ratnayake chipped in by having Heinrich Klaasen caught at point which left the game in the balance.

The drama intensified when Marco Jansen and Anrich Nortje removed David Bedingham and Livingstone to set up an intense finale. 

Earlier, the Sunrisers were stuttering at 64/3 in the 10th over when Stubbs strode to the crease, and slipped deeper into the quagmire fours overs later when Matthew Breetzke and Marco Jansen perished to leave the home team in real trouble at 87/5.

But the skipper absorbed the pressure, having crawled to 11 off 18 balls at one stage, before he deposited a loose delivery from Kwena Maphaka for his first boundary. 

By then he had also found an able and willing partner in Lewis Gregory as the pair upped the ante at the death by bashing 71 off 38 deliveries for the sixth wicket. 

DSG’s death bowling left a lot to be desired with 53 runs without loss being added in the final three overs. 

Maphaka’s initial two overs conceded 12 runs, but finished his four overs with figures of 1/44 with Stubbs and Gregory taking full advantage of anything short and over-pitched. The youngster particularly felt the pressure in his final over when he delivered a no-ball that Stubbs scooped for six.

Fellow fast bowler Gerald Coetzee was also man-handled, particularly by Stubbs, who battered four boundaries in the 20-run over.