Pretoria Capitals v Sunrisers Eastern Cape – Preview

After the steady start, Sunrisers Eastern Cape has picked up an excellent form winning three matches in a row. On Thursday 25 January, will be preparing to face off with Pretoria Capitals. It is the second clash between these two sides in a space of three days. The first provided a one-sided affair with the Sunrisers claiming a dominant 9 wickets victory. So, Capitals playing at home this time will be aiming for a different outcome in what promises to be an epic clash.

It is a repeat of last year’s final when Sunrisers Eastern Cape made a trip to the country’s capital, Pretoria to go against Pretoria Capitals. The Capitals languished bottom of the league table with one victory in five matches. Things are not coming well for them. Now are in serious trouble to miss out on the semi-finals spot. Maybe it is something not on their mind at the moment by looking at how results have not come for them. That winning tempo shown last season is not present at the moment. Instead, they are a hopeless team with no eagerness to get the assignment done. The league is halfway, maybe a turnaround in the second phase is on the card.

For them facing Sunrisers brings back old wounds. On Tuesday, were bowled out to an embarrassing 52-all out, which was the lowest score the tournament has ever recorded. Their batsmen failed dismally to cope with the dry St George’s Park surface. It is crucial to note that, the top batting order never gives themselves time to settle on the crease and create combinations. Instead, they played like a chasing team. As a result, they fell like a pack of cards. Now, Centurion Ground gives them something different from what they experienced in Gqerbeha. It is a good playing ground with batsmen expected to shine with no questions in line. So that shall be a motivation.

Meanwhile, Sunrisers will be targeting to extend a winning streak to four games now. Are last season’s scriptures writing itself once again? Last season, the Sunrisers had a slowish start but became imperious as time progressed. After two matches in this current season, they were yet to get over the mark. But three wins in three games saw them back to the top. So, one would ask, what defines Champions? Then the answer will come from a terrific display shown by the side over the Capitals by bowling them out for 52. Ottniel Baartman was the star on the day taking four scalps as Sunrisers bowlers were bowling into perfection on the day. Baartman has been incredible so far taking eight wickets so far.

Daniel Worrall and Marco Jansen took three and two wickets respectively to pull out a performance that will go into history books. Despite the leader Aiden Markram yet to be at his best, Sunrisers have shown character to rise in difficult to win. A team that is so hard to predict and to stop as it possesses balance in the team. Each player compromises to create a team effort with one goal – to win at all costs. So far, they have done that perfectly. A win will see them going to second position in the league standing. In four instances these teams played against each other, Sunrisers have won three and one no-result match. So, they have made this clash as theirs.

What To Expect

Two teams with one intention in mind – to win. The pitch is perfect for batsmen and batting first might be a quite good decision. This ground has seen big totals with an average of 175 totals in the past eight matches when batting first.

Prediction

Best Bet: Sunrisers Eastern Cape to win a match at 1.80