Durban's Super Giants: 225/3
Sunrisers Eastern Cape: 190/9
DSG won by 35 runs
Jon Jon Smuts came back to haunt Sunrisers Eastern Cape with a superb all-round performance on a balmy Betway SA20 evening at St George's Park.
Smuts, who was traded to Durban's Super Giants during the off-season for Simon Harmer, came back to hurt his former team with a superb 75 off just 38 balls (4x4, 7x6) that propelled the visitors to a mammoth 225/3 before delivering a fine spell of 2/35.
In contrast, Harmer conceded 53 runs off his three overs at an economy of 17.66.
Fellow Gqeberha talent Matthew Breetzke provided Smuts with the platform to launch after he struck 43 off just 29 balls at the top of the order.
With Smuts and Breetzke initially putting the Sunrisers bowlers to the sword, the home team were ripe for the taking when West Indies superstar Nicholas Pooran walked to the crease.
The dynamic left-hander did not waste any time in finding his groove. He raced to his half-century off just 27 balls, which included clubbing Marco Jansen for a string of boundaries in the penultimate over.
Pooran finished on 60 not off just 31 deliveries (5x4, 4x6). He was particularly destructive through the covers whenever Jansen overpitched.
The Sunrisers would be severely disappointed with their death bowling as the home side conceded 89 runs in the last five overs.
The momentum was certainly with the visitors and it filtered into their bowling effort at the start of the Sunrisers innings.
DSG’s new-ball pair of Reece Topley and Richard Gleeson started superbly as they reduced Sunrisers to 29/2 after the first five overs.
In the context of this high-scoring match it proved to be a match-winning spell from the two England seamers.
Tom Abell tried his best to resurrect the Sunrisers’ innings with a superb 65 off 36 balls, and it even appeared at one stage that the defending champions looked to be back in the chase when he was batting with captain Aiden Markram (28).
But having already hurt the Sunrisers with the willow, the all-rounder hammered the nails into the coffin by dismissing both Markram and Jansen in quick succession.
This double blow left Tristan Stubbs with just too much to do as the run rate escalated, although the young Sunrisers batter at least provided the home crowd with something to cheer about as he struck a rapid 55 off 26 balls.
It was, however, all in vain as DSG claimed their second successive victory of the Season 2 campaign.
@ZaahierAdams