DSG hold their nerve to seal final-over thriller

Durban's Super Giants (DSG) held their nerve in a tense finish to seal a two-wicket win over table-toppers Sunrisers Eastern Cape (SEC) in Gqeberha. Chasing 160, they needed four runs in the final over but had only two wickets in hand. However, a few leg byes and then a boundary by Evan Jones saw DSG seal their second-ever win over SEC and move off the bottom of the table.

A middle-overs collapse from SEC had DSG hoping for a simpler chase, but Tristan Stubbs and Lewis Gregory's late onslaught powered SEC to 158 for 5, a much higher score than what they looked destined for when they slumped to 87 for 5 in the 14th over.

Marques Ackerman and Aiden Markram played electric knocks to give DSG a flying start in the chase. It was enough to ensure the win and keep DSG in the playoffs race despite the middle and lower order wobbling.

DSG captain Markram, who had previously led SEC to two SA20 titles, dispatched Marco Jansen through cover point in the first over to lay down a marker of what was to come. In the second over, Markram took the attack to Adam Milne, hammering five boundaries.

Ackerman then got in on the act, ramping Jansen over the keeper. He went on to pick up two boundaries off ambidextrous spinner Tharindu Rathnayake. But the introduction of spin in the powerplay accounted for Markram. He looked to launch Senuran Muthusamy down the ground but couldn't clear Jansen running to his right, with the allrounder taking a fine catch.

The wicket didn't slow Ackerman down, though. He went 6,4, 4 against Milne to take DSG to 71 for 1 at the end of the powerplay. But a couple of quiet overs built up pressure, and Ackerman ended up dragging one onto his stumps off Anrich Nortje.

SEC conceded just 11 runs across the seventh, eighth and ninth overs for two wickets, with Sunil Narine holing out for a three-ball duck off Gregory. The tenth over proved to be expensive as Jos Buttler lofted Nortje back over his head for a six before driving him for cover and Heinrich Klaasen pulled a free hit for six behind square. But SEC did not let up, keeping DSG down to seven runs or fewer from the 11th over to the 17th, picking up four wickets in the process.

With DSG needing 15 runs off the final two overs, Gerald Coetzee launched Milne for a six in the penultimate over to bring the equation down to under a run a ball. Milne had his revenge, castling Coetzee, but the damage was done. DSG needed four in the last over, and after a few leg byes saw them level scores, Evans slashed Nortje behind point to bring up the victory.

SEC opted to bat after winning the toss, and when Quinton de Kock and Jonny Bairstow started dealing in boundaries early on, it looked like a good decision. But Coetzee had Bairstow pulling a short ball to midwicket for the first wicket in the third over. Coetzee was pumped and gave Bairstow a send-off, and the batter walked off not best pleased. Things got worse for SEC when de Kock fell to Narine next over.

Jordan Hermann stabilised the innings with a 24-ball 29 but was trapped lbw by Kwena Maphaka just short of the halfway mark of the innings. With the boundaries now dried up, Matthew Breetzke was next to go, making just 20 off 22. When Jansen fell in the 14th over, things looked rather bleak for SEC.

Tristan Stubbs and Gregory first set about steadying the ship, pushing SEC to 107 for 5 at the end of the 17th over. Then they decided to force the issue, with Stubbs picking a boundary off Maphaka and Gregory pulling him over midwicket for six. With 14 off that over, they went even better in the next one with Stubbs starting and finishing the over with back-to-back boundaries.

In the final over, Stubbs hit Maphaka for another six, off a no-ball, and then Gregory scooped him for four to end the innings on a bang and take their team to a much higher total than was expected at one stage, but in the end it wasn't enough.