JSK won the toss and chose to field first. Sunrisers were again indebted to the in-form Quinton de Kock, who powered his way to 54 from just 37 deliveries. It was De Kock’s third half-century of the campaign as he and Jonny Bairstow raced out of the blocks with a 48-run opening stand in 4.4 overs.

There were a couple of blips from thereon, with the Sunrisers losing wickets in clusters to be placed at 90/4 heading into the second half of the innings. Captain Tristan Stubbs and Sussex allrounder James Coles, however, steadied the ship before exploding at the death with a match-winning 88-run partnership off 55 balls.

Faced with a target of 179 to win, JSK were quickly out of the blocks, but apart from a brisk 31-run opening stand in 3.3 overs between James Vince (30 off 23 balls) and Rivaldo Moonsamy, the visitors were never able to keep up with the required run-rate. 

The victory is celebrated on the Sunrisers’ social media pages. Photo: Facebook/Sunrisers Eastern Cape

With Coles, who was also chosen as Player of the Match, and Senuran Muthusamy tightening the noose and wickets falling regularly, the run-rate escalated to beyond 10 runs per over. 

That was simply too much for the inexperienced JSK middle to chase down, with pacers Adam Milne (1/10), Anrich Nortje (1/13), and Marco Jansen (2/33) maintaining the pressure.

Muthusamy, who took three wickets, says the SEC are thrilled to have cleared the first hurdle to the qualifiers.

The Sunrisers have reclaimed top position with 24 points, while JSK remain in fourth place on 17 points. 

The result also ensured that Durban’s Super Giants remain in contention for a playoff spot ahead of their final game against Paarl Royals at Kingsmead on Saturday.

On Thursday, second-placed Pretoria Capitals will host third-placed Paarl Royals at Centurion. The match starts at 17:30.

OFM Sport/Ilse Smalberger cvs