Pretoria Capitals look for the first win of new SA20 season
Pretoria Capitals will take on Sunrisers Eastern Cape in their second match of the SA20 2025 season at St George’s Park, Gqeberha, on December 29. It will be Pretoria’s first away fixture of the campaign and an early test for new captain Keshav Maharaj.
Maharaj’s captaincy debut did not get off to the perfect start, as the Capitals went down to Joburg Super Kings while chasing in their opening match. Over the past three seasons, Capitals had never lost to JSK at home. That record is now broken but despite the loss, there were positives for Pretoria Capitals. The pace attack showed encouraging signs and consistently applied pressure, something Pretoria will build on in this season. However, the batting unit will need a stronger performance to back up the bowling effort.
The head-to-head record favours Pretoria Capitals. The two teams have met 7 times across the last three seasons. Pretoria Capitals have won 4 matches, while Sunrisers Eastern Cape have won 3. Last season, both teams won one match each. Pretoria have been particularly strong when batting first against SEC, winning 3 of their 4 victories in that scenario.
A clear pattern was seen after the first round of matches featuring all 6 teams. The visitors won on each occasion and the team batting first won too.
Pretoria Capitals – Team News
Pretoria Capitals will take confidence from their bowling effort despite the loss in the opening match. The pace unit stood out and consistently made scoring difficult. Tymal Mills used pace and bounce well and finished with 2 for 17, while Codi Yusuf backed him up with 2 for 29.
Bryce Parsons impressed in short spells, picking up 2 for 22 from 2 overs. Joburg Super Kings were restricted to 168 for 6, a total that looked chaseable for most of the game.
The spin department was expensive. Keshav Maharaj went wicketless, as did Lungi Ngidi and Roston Chase. That remains an area Pretoria will look to tighten.
With the bat, the Capitals started strongly with an opening stand better than their opponents. Bryce Parsons scored 41 and Will Smeed added 34, putting on a 71-run opening stand. At 71 without loss, Pretoria were in control. However, a collapse of 5 wickets for 18 runs changed the match. From a strong position, Pretoria slipped to 146 for 9 and fell 22 runs short, with 42 needed off the final two overs. The middle order will need a better performance against Sunrisers Eastern Cape. Andre Russell will strengthen all departments whenever he joins the camp.
Pretoria Capitals – Probable Playing XI
Will Smeed, Bryce Parsons, Shai Hope, Dewald Brevis, Connor Esterhuizen, Daniel Smith (wk), Roston Chase, Codi Yusuf, Keshav Maharaj (c), Tymal Mills, Lungi Ngidi
Sunrisers Eastern Cape – Team News
Sunrisers Eastern Cape will be full of confidence after a dominant start to the season. They sit on top of the table following a crushing win over Paarl Royals in their opening game.
Sunrisers posted 186 for 4 and then bowled Paarl Royals out for just 49, sealing a 136-run victory, the second-biggest margin in SA20 history. Their batting effort was built around two strong partnerships. Jonny Bairstow and Quinton de Kock added 66 for the first wicket, while Matthew Breetzke and Jordan Hermann stitched together 73 for the fifth wicket.
SEC tried a tactical move by promoting Marco Jansen to No.3 despite having Breetzke and new skipper Tristan Stubbs in the line-up. The experiment failed as Jansen scored 8 off 11 balls, including 4 off his first 9. With the ball, Anrich Nortje delivered a statement spell, using pace and bounce to claim 4 for 13 on a benign surface. No Sunrisers bowler went wicketless. Adam Milne and Tharindu Rathnayake took 2 wickets each, while Marco Jansen and Senuran Muthusamy chipped in with 1 apiece.
Sunrisers Eastern Cape – Probable Playing XI
Jonny Bairstow, Quinton de Kock (wk), Matthew Breetzke, Jordan Hermann, Tristan Stubbs (c), Marco Jansen, Senuran Muthusamy, Anrich Nortje, Adam Milne, Tharindu Rathnayake, Lewis Gregor
Sunrisers Eastern Cape vs Pretoria Capitals – Key Matchups
Jonny Bairstow vs Lungi Ngidi
Jonny Bairstow has scored 54 runs in 27 balls against Lungi Ngidi in T20Is, getting dismissed just once.
Shai Hope vs Adam Milne
Shai Hope has scored 31 runs off 20 balls at a strike rate of 155.0 against Adam Milne in T20s. Milne has never dismissed Shai Hope in any format.