De Kock, Breetzke and Milne lead SEC to bonus-point victory

Half-centuries from Quinton de Kock (77) and Matthew Breetzke (52) set Sunrisers Eastern Cape (SEC) up for a big finish, but they ended up with 188 rather than the 200-plus total they seemed on course for, with Tymal Mills and Lungi Ngidi conceding just 20 off the last three overs with their slower balls into the pitch.

It proved a big enough total, however, as Pretoria Capitals (PC) faded away after a promising start, with Adam Milne wrecking their chase with figures of 4 for 25.

The game was in the balance with Will Smeed well set and PC requiring 92 off the last 58 balls, with seven wickets in hand. But Senuran Muthusamy cleaned Smeed up with a left-arm spinner's dream delivery, triggering a collapse of 3 for 14 that all but ended the contest. SEC eventually won by 48 runs, picking up a bonus point.

After Ngidi dismissed Jonny Bairstow in the second over, de Kock and Breetzke dominated for almost 12 overs. By the end of the powerplay, SEC had 64 runs on the board and had hit five sixes. Four of them had come off de Kock's bat, one of which stood out for its grace. Off the second ball of the fourth over, de Kock leaned into a length delivery wide of off stump from Ngidi and effortlessly lofted it over mid-off.

De Kock reached his fifty off 29 balls in the eighth over, even as Breetzke took his time at the other end. But from 25 off 20 at one stage, Breetzke thumped 27 off his next 13 balls to get to his half-century in 30 deliveries. By the time de Kock was stumped off Bryce Parsons in the 14th over for 77 off 47 balls, SEC looked set for a huge total.

Jordan Hermann arrived when de Kock departed, and hit two boundaries off his first three balls. He started the 17th over with four and six off Wihan Lubbe, and was on 27 off 12 balls with three overs left. SEC were sitting pretty at 168 for 3, with an eye on 200. But Tristan Stubbs pulled Mills to deep backward square leg, and the changes of pace kept working for Mills and Ngidi. Hermann fell to Mills in the final over, for 37 off 20 balls.

PC were 49 for 1 five overs into their chase. Shai Hope had motored to 36 off 18 balls with five fours and a six, including three boundaries off Anrich Nortje in the fifth over. But just when PC had all the momentum, Milne's back-of-the-hand slower ball landed on a yorker length and flattened Hope's off stump.

Lewis Gregory then had Dewald Brevis caught at wide long-on in the eighth over. Smeed, though, looked in control just over the halfway mark, only for Muthusamy to get him with a beauty. The ball drifted in and dipped onto a length on leg stump, and turned and bounced enough to hit the top of middle. Smeed departed for 35, and the others followed.

Milne bowled Connor Esterhuizen off another slower ball in the 13th over, and a mix-up with Sherfane Rutherford resulted in Lubbe's run-out. Milne got two more wickets - both in the 17th over - when he had Keshav Maharaj and Rutherford caught. With the match going out of PC's hands with every passing wicket, Rutherford was their only hope for a miracle. But he only managed 25 off 19 balls, having been left with too much to do.