Sunrisers have the best recipe

The Sunrisers Eastern Cape were surprise winners of the first edition of the SA20 competition last year after few fans gave them a chance at the start of the competition and again they are probably surprise winners this season.

But having now won back-toback titles there is little doubt that the team based in Gqeberha has something special about it and that in captain Aiden Markram and coach Adrian Birrell they have a very solid and strong leadership group.

There is no disputing the Sunrisers are deserved twotime winners of South Africa’s premier T20 competition. So, what is their secret?

It’s interesting to note that the Sunrisers don’t really have any one player who stands out above the rest, like say DSG (Heinrich Klaasen), MI Cape Town (Ryan Rickelton), Paarl Royals (David Miller), Pretoria Capitals (Will Jacks) and JSK (Faf du Plessis).

These teams rely heavily on these players to “come off”, though not exclusively of course, as there are other quality players in their ranks who’ve won these teams matches.

But what stands out about the Sunrisers is that they are a true team with several players making contributions and able to win them games.

If it’s not been Jordan Hermann or Dawid Malan, it’s been Markram or Tom Abell, Tristan Stubbs or Patrick Kruger, Marco Jansen or Ottneil Baartman or Daniel Worrall.

They’ve had a number of players contribute significantly through the campaign.

Stubbs (301 runs at strikerate 168), Hermann (295 runs at 117), Abell (286 runs at 152) and Markram (261 at 138) all feature prominently among the run-getters. Then there are the bowlers.

Jansen, with 20 wickets including five in the final, leads the way, and is followed by Baartman (18) and Worrall (17) in the top three.

The Sunrisers went about their business in a measured, structured way, following a clear plan and sticking to it.

It was another hugely successful SA20 competition, with several players stepping forward but it’s hats off to the Sunrisers…champions again!