With the highly anticipated final between double-defending champions Sunrisers Eastern Cape and MI Cape Town on Saturday, SA20 Season 3 is about to come to an exciting climax. The historic Wanderers in Johannesburg, the site of the first SA20 final, will provide as the background for the momentous event once again.

According to the SA20 news release, the game is scheduled to start at 5:30 p.m. local time.

The Sunrisers won both the elimination and qualifier two to guarantee their third consecutive spot in the SA20 championship game, bouncing back from erratic group stage performances to reach their pinnacle during the playoffs.

MI After dominating the group stages and achieving a new league record of 35 points under Rashid Khan’s leadership, Cape Town will be experiencing the rarefied atmosphere of the finals for the first time.

They carried that momentum into Qualifier 1, easily defeating the Paarl Royals on Tuesday to guarantee a direct route to the championship game.

When the Sunrisers won the Betway SA20 title for the first time in 2023, they had the advantage of having already experienced the special Bullring atmosphere.

Aiden Markram, captain of the Sunrisers, said, “I am looking forward to it, to be honest,”

“The excitement will already be there since it seems to have been sold out weeks ago. That is incredibly nice for gamers. I believe that all of the males are quite eager, not just myself.

“We like performing in front of packed stadiums, and the atmosphere at Wanderers when it’s packed is quite unique. That is something I am excited about. “A final at Wanderers is always a special occasion,” he said.

MI With skipper Rashid Khan certain that the Sunrisers’ incredible journey, which began at the bottom, would conclude in victory, Cape Town will be looking to stop their attempt to capture a historic hat-trick of championships.

For two years, we were the worst squad; today, we are the top team. For the last month, we have been playing some incredible cricket,” Rashid said.

“Yes, they have a good experience being finalists the last three years, but I think for us, we will be just focusing on playing good cricket and focusing on what we did great in the last month that got us here.”

“The best thing is to beat the opposition team with your own skills, make sure whatever the challenge is, we accept that and do well in that.”

The final seems to be a contest between the strong Sunrisers Eastern Cape bowling attack and the MI Cape Town batting lineup.

Both Ryan Rickelton (fifth with 303 runs at an average of 50.50, strike rate of 175.14 with three fifties) and Rassie van der Dussen (second with 370 runs at an average of 52.85, with a fifty and strike rate of over 133), as well as Dewald Brevis (ninth with 253 runs at an average of 50.60, strike rate of 180.71 with two fifties), are among the top 10 run scorers in the competition.

Richard Gleeson (7th with 12 wickets), Ottneil Baartman (8th with 11 wickets), Liam Dawson (5th with 12 wickets), and Marco Jansen (1st with 17 wickets) are the Sunrisers’ four bowlers in the top 10. With 334 runs at an average of 41.75 and three fifties, captain Markram has been the most dominant batsman.
“We will back our best options, our best bowlers, match-ups and things like that, and hopefully that can work and give us a shot at breaking that partnership,” Markram said.

“But they have been finding ways to score big, whether the two of them fire or not.”
“We will need to prepare properly for them since their whole batting lineup is doing quite well. And in the end, I believe we give ourselves a strong chance if we can pull it off on the night,” he said.