Sunrisers Eastern Cape vs Paarl Royals Predictions - De Kock to rub it in against the Royals

Simon Lewis

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Last updated: 1 minute ago

Simon Lewis 1 minute ago

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Quinton de Kock hit six sixes in his 47-ball 77 against the Capitals.
Lhuan-dre Pretorius was the leading runscorer in the SA20 last season, scoring 397 runs (S/R 166.80).
Can the Sunrisers make it three wins from three?

Lhuan-de Pretorius batting against Pakistan (Getty Images).

Sunrisers Eastern Cape vs Paarl Royals Predictions

The Sunrisers are looking like one of the sides to beat, with their batters all getting among the runs. The Royals crashed to a disastrous 137-run defeat at home in their first match against the Sunrisers, so the momentum is with the Eastern Cape side.

Sunrisers Eastern Cape’s Quinton de Kock has scored 90, 65, 42 & 77 in his last 5 innings.
Sunrisers Eastern Cape’s Matthew Breetzke has scored 72, 68, 24, 31 & 52 in his last 5 innings.
Paarl Royals’ Lhuan-dre Pretorius has scored 57, 46, 39, 21, 123 & 55 in his last 8 innings.
Paarl Royals’ Asa Tribe has scored 25, 53* & 129* in his last 5 innings.

Head-to-Head

Sunrisers Eastern Cape have won four and lost one of their last five SA20 matches against Paarl Royals, including the last three in a row.

Sunrisers Eastern Cape Form

The Sunrisers won their second game in a row to get off to a flying start to the SA20 season, beating the Capitals by 48 runs after their opening 137-run win over the Royals.

Quinton de Kock (42 & 77) and Matthew Breetzke (31 & 53) have hit their straps in both matches, while Jordan Hermann scored a breezy 37 off 20 balls after his first-match score of 62* off just 28 balls. When you add Jonny Bairstow and Tristan Stubbs to the mix, the Sunrisers are looking like a side destined for the final.

Marco Jansen has proven tough to get away, returning tight figures of 1/15 in both matches this season. Adam Milne has been among the wickets, taking 2/7 and 4/25. Anrich Nortje has been ratcheting up the pace, and played a key role in the win over the Royals, blowing their middle-order apart in taking 4/13.

Paarl Royals Form

The Royals poor run of form in the tournament at the end of last season continued in their opening match of the 2025/26 season, when they were smashed at home to the tune of 137 runs by the Sunrisers.

Ottneil Baartman (2/40) picked up two key top order batters and Bjorn Fortuin kept his four overs down to 8.00 runs to the over, but the Sunrisers cashed in against the rest of the attack to post 186/4 off their 20 overs.

The 21-year-old England Lions newcomer Asa Tribe top-scored with 14 off 10 balls, followed by Kyle Verreynne (11 off 17), but three Royals ducks and a next top score of just seven set the tone for a record low innings score in the SA20. It’s unlikely that they will fall so hard again, but do they have enough quality to start winning matches?

Sunrisers Eastern Cape vs Paarl Royals Team News

The Sunrisers are looking dangerous across their squad and skipper Tristan Stubbs is happy with his top-order batters.

“The way Quinny and Breeztke batted they complemented each other. They took the right options and were very clear. It got a bit tough towards the end. Really positive at the break - we knew we had to bowl well and the boys bowled beautifully," said Stubbs after their win over the Capitals.

Royals skipper David Miller maintained a long view despite his side’s batting collapse in their opener.

"Absolutely gutted for tonight but there's a lot to look ahead of us so we'll take confidence from that. It wasn't a great game for us, but there's a long competition ahead. We let it slip a little towards the back end and the batters just didn't get off to starts. It's our first game and the younger guys in the team will learn pretty quickly and I am looking forward to how we'll bounce back. It's not how you start, it's how you finish, so we're going to hold on to that,” said Miller.

Sunrisers Eastern Cape (possible XI): Quinton de Kock (w), Jonny Bairstow, Matthew Breetzke, Jordan Hermann, Tristan Stubbs (c), Marco Jansen, Lewis Gregory, Senuran Muthusamy, Tharindu Rathnayake, Anrich Nortje, Adam Milne.

Paarl Royals (possible XI): Lhuan-dre Pretorius, Vishen Halambage, Asa Tribe, Rubin Hermann, Kyle Verreynne (w), David Miller (c), Delano Potgieter, Bjorn Fortuin, Nqobani Mokoena, Ottneil Baartman, Mujeeb Ur Rahman.

Verdict

Sunrisers Eastern Cape v Paarl Royals

I am backing Sunrisers Eastern Cape to win, with Quinton de Kock to top score.

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