De Kock masterclass steers Sunrisers to bonus-point win over Capitals

Quinton de Kock treated the “Orange Army” to a batting masterclass in the Sunrisers Eastern Cape’s 48-run bonus-point win over the Pretoria Capitals at a rousing St George’s Park on Monday night.

The victory propelled the Sunrisers to the top of the Betway SA20 table with 10 points, while the Capitals remain without a win after two matches.

The Gqeberha-based team’s fans turned up in their thousands to deck South Africa’s oldest Test venue in a sea of orange for the Sunrisers’ first home game of season 4, with the iconic brass band providing a festive atmosphere.

De Kock gave them plenty to cheer, with the left-hander blazing 77 off 47 balls (five fours, six sixes). He struck the ball sweetly from the outset with a few rasping lofted cover drives interspersed with powerful pull shots.

Matthew Breetzke (52 off 33 balls) was the perfect partner for De Kock after the early demise of Jonny Bairstow, with the pair putting on an electrifying 116-run partnership off only 70 balls.

That laid the platform for in-form Jordan Hermann (37 off 20 balls) to unleash a series of conventional and reverse sweeps that pushed Sunrisers to an impressive 188/6.

The total proved well beyond the reach of the Capitals as the Sunrisers unleashed their three-pronged pace arsenal of Marco Jansen, Adam Milne and Anrich Nortje.

Jansen required only six balls to strike the first blow, removing Capitals opener Bryce Parsons with a rasping delivery the left-hander could only fend off to De Kock behind the stumps.

Kiwi Milne (4/25) was next in the act, dismissing Shai Hope (36 off 19 balls) when the West Indian was threatening to build a big innings.

The major breakthrough was left to Lewis Gregory when the Sunrisers all-rounder lured Dewald Brevis (12 off five balls) into taking on the longest boundary, where Breetzke lay in wait to take a comfortable catch.

The Capitals’ innings disintegrated from there, with Milne running through the visitors’ tail, while left-arm spinner Senuran Muthusamy delivered arguably the ball of the night to bowl a well-set Will Smeed (35 off 27 balls).