Paarl Royals vs Sunrisers Eastern Cape Predictions - Pretorius hitting form in time to take Royals to the final

Simon Lewis

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Last updated: 1 hour ago

Simon Lewis 1 hour ago

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Lhuan-dre Pretorius hit 5 sixes in his 34-ball 51 against the Super Kings.
Quinton de Kock tops the SA20 runs list with 347 runs (ave 43.37).
Can the Royals keep their hopes of a first SA20 title alive by beating the Sunrisers in Qualifier 2?

Lhuan-dre Pretorius hits over cover against Pakistan (Getty Images).

Paarl Royals vs Sunrisers Eastern Cape Predictions

It’s been a tight season, with the Sunrisers, Capitals and Royals each winning five of their 10 matches in the group stage of the SA20. Coming into Qualifier 2 the Sunrisers lost to the Capitals by seven wickets, while the Royals had a confidence-boosting win over the Super Kings in the Eliminator. The momentum is with the Royals, and so is my backing.

Paarl Royals vs Sunrisers Eastern Cape Predictions
Head-to-Head
Paarl Royals Form
Sunrisers Eastern Cape Form
Paarl Royals vs Sunrisers Eastern Cape Team News

Paarl Royals’ Lhuan-dre Pretorius has scored 98*, 32 & 51 this season.
Paarl Royals’ Dan Lawrence has scored 63, 41, 45 & 36 in his last 5 innings.
Sunrisers Eastern Cape’s Quinton de Kock has scored 79*, 54 & 56 in his last 6 innings.
Sunrisers Eastern Cape’s Tristan Stubbs has scored 47*, 23* & 26* in his last 4 innings.

Head-to-Head

The Royals have won two and lost three of their last five SA20 matches against the Sunrisers.

Paarl Royals Form

The Royals secured their place in Qualifier 2 when they beat the Super Kings by 36 runs.

The Royals top-order all came to the party against the Super Kings, led by last season’s top run-scorer, Lhuan-dre Pretorius (51 off 34 balls), who is finding form at a perfect time for his side. Kyle Verreynne (30 off 15), Dan Lawrence (36 off 23), Sikandar Raza (35 off 19) and Asa Tribe (30* off 16) played their part in taking the Royals to 210/5 off their 20 overs.

Leading SA20 wicket-taker Ottneil Baartman (2/47) ripped through the middle order, but the Royals’ star with the ball was Hardus Viljoen (3/24, econ 6.00), who knocked over two of the Super Kings’ top four.

Sunrisers Eastern Cape Form

After finishing top of the table with 28 points, the Sunrisers lost Qualifier 1 to the Capitals by seven wickets.

The Sunrisers’ top four got the innings off to a good start on a tricky pitch to post 170/7 off their 20 overs. Jonny Bairstow (50 off 36 balls) and Jordan Hermann (41 off 30) added 81 for the second wicket, before James Coles slammed 17 off just four balls at the tail end of the innings.

The Capitals hit their target for the loss of just three wickets with nine balls to spare. Senuran Muthusamy (0/31, econ 7.75) was the most economical of the Sunrisers bowlers, with Anrich Nortje (1/33, econ 8.25) also proving tough to handle.

Paarl Royals vs Sunrisers Eastern Cape Team News

Paarl Royals (possible XI): Kyle Verreynne, Lhuan-dre Pretorius, Rubin Hermann, Dan Lawrence, David Miller, Sikandar Raza, Delano Potgieter, Hardus Viljoen, Waqar Salamkheil, Bjorn Fortuin, Ottneil Baartman.

Sunrisers Eastern Cape (possible XI): Tristan Stubbs, Jonny Bairstow, Matthew Breetzke, Chris Green, Senuran Muthusamy, Quinton de Kock, Anrich Nortje, Jordan Hermann, James Coles, Lewis Gregory, Marco Jansen.