Small margins split SA20's two best performing teams ahead of final

From Prison Break to “grandfather” figures, the participants in Saturday’s Betway SA20 final are drawing inspiration from different directions.

MI Cape Town and the Sunrisers Eastern Cape are hard to separate ahead of the Wanderers final showpiece on Saturday at the Wanderers in Johannesburg at 5.30pm.

The latter have the know-how, from winning the competition in its first two years, while the former have finally figured out how to use the outrageous depth of talent at their disposal.

MI Cape Town finished atop the log in the league phase and then thrashed Paarl Royals in the first playoff game. 

They’ve had a few days off, while the Sunrisers have battled through two play-off games to get here.

Though Aiden Markram understands the physical and mental toll the last few days have had on his players, he also feels they have benefited from playing and winning two knockout games. 

“It can be tiring — after back to back games — but with all the energy in the stadiums and a lot on the line, you automatically get up for (a final). I’m pretty chuffed that we played these two games, it’s allowed us to get our complete package together,” said the Sunrisers captain.

He’d made the point to his side ahead of the first playoff game with Joburg Super Kings that everything that happened in the round-robin phase meant nothing. 

“He told us ‘the tournament starts now,’ and it seems everyone is in form at the moment, with bat, ball and in the field. You can feel it,” Tony de Zorzi explained about his skipper’s approach. 

Markram and head coach Adrian Birrell have created what De Zorzi described as a “unique atmosphere”, where a franchise squad, only brought together for a month, “feels like a team”. 

Markram praised Birrell for driving that approach which is how the pensioner’s comparison was made.

“It’s strange, he’s been around for years and seen a lot but remains this really calm, almost like — I can’t say the word, OK, let's go with it — grandfather figure for us. He’s going to hate me (for saying that). He manages each individual with a lot of care. The players really appreciate him.” 

While the Sunrisers have endured the playoff grind, MI Cape Town took time off with some players returning home, while their skipper Rashid Khan entertained himself in his hotel room watching Prison Break. 

“I feel like it’s given me an idea of how to get out of difficult situations,” he joked.

There’s not been a lot of that for Rashid and his team this year, but that is only the result of solving the problems they encountered in the first two seasons, particularly around leadership.

Rassie van der Dussen and Kagiso Rabada have made a point about how much assistance they, as senior players, have lent Rashid, but even the likes of Dewald Brevis, Trent Boult and George Linde have been happy to provide advice. 

“As an overseas captain it is always very hard leading,” said Rashid.

“You need those leaders around you to make your job easier. I felt like that was something which was missing in the first year.”

While Sunrisers have the advantage of experience about this stage of the competition, Cape Town are a team in form, across all three facets. 

The respective bowling units cancel each other out — the Sunrisers have a potent set of seamers led by the tournament’s leading wicket-taker, Marco Jansen on 17. 

They are sweating on the fitness of Ottneil Baartman, who picked up a hamstring injury in Thursday’s match against Paarl Royals.

Baartman will be assessed before the match, but should he not recover, Markram said he’d want another seamer as a replacement. 

The Sunrisers have options from Andile Simelane, to Beyers Swanepoel or even Okuhle Cele. Simelane has played one match, and is understood to be the favourite to start if Baartman is declared unfit. 

It would be a blow to the Sunrisers, for whom Baartman has been a crucial player in their success in the first two seasons. 

Against the best batting unit in the competition, featuring the leading opening pair in Van der Dussen and Ryan Rickelton, the Sunrisers will need all their bowling resources to fire consistently.

Saturday’s match starts at 5.30pm.