Sunrisers vs Royals, 3rd Match at Paarl, SA20, Dec 27 2025 - Match Result

8.50pm Right then, that's all from us tonight. Two teams with two big wins. Join us again tomorrow for more action from the SA20, and the cricketing world in general. On behalf of Ranjith, this is Abhimanyu signing off.

8.46pm Dee: "Do hat-tricks carry over to the next match?" -- Unfortunately, no. Anyway, time for the presentation ceremony.

The player of the match is Anrich Nortje: "Good to be back, great to be part of the SA20 again. Rhythm wise I think it can be better but definitely the wind played a part. [On the no-ball for bouncers] No comment (laughs). [Jansen and Milne] are very skilled with the new ball and very happy to come in after that and chip away. They build a good platform and get early wickets too. There are a lot of compartments that have been covered. There are a lot of good players not getting an opportunity tonight. We cover different conditions and skills and the boys are going well. [Body okay?] All good, thank you so much."

Tristan Stubbs: "The boys were excellent. Like you said, I think that's the perfect start. I think that's what we asked for at the start, and the boys gave it their all out there. Executed excellently. [On the pace attack] I don't want to face our bowling attack. They are quite something. [On the openers] They batted beautifully. I think they took the right options. It looked like they were really calm out there in the middle. [On Hermann] He was excellent. We spoke about having someone in at the end and the way he took it on from ball 1, it was a great innings. [On dropping down the order] If we win like this, I'm happy not batting."

8.35pm A thunderous knock from Jordan Hermann followed by a fiery spell from Anrich Nortje have powered Sunrisers Eastern Cape to a 137-run victory, which will also fetch them a bonus point, and Tristan Stubbs will be a happy man to begin his captaincy stint with a win. Quinton de Kock spearheaded a strong start on a tricky surface before Breetzke and Hermann laid down the platform despite Royals' bowlers keeping things tight. Hermann kicked on to finish with a flourish before the fast bowlers ran the home team rugged. Nortje's extra pace made him near unplayable, and he even found himself on a hat-trick, only for Paarl to lose their last two wickets in the very next over. A word also for Marco Jansen and Adam Milne, who bowled very good spells with the new ball, leaving Paarl four down at the end of the powerplay, and effectively ending the contest in the first six.

Here is what David Miller had to say: "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. They bowled very well. It's our first game. A lot of younger guys in the team and they'll learn pretty quickly and we'll all learn together 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. Absolutely gutted for tonight but there's a lot to look ahead of us so we'll take confidence from that."

Nortje is on a hat-trick but he may not get the chance to bowl the hat-trick delivery!

Nqobani Mokoena is the new batter in, but he'll have to wait to get on strike

Mujeeb Ur Rahman

Bjorn Fortuin. Also, SEC will get a bonus point if they restrict Royals to 148 or less!

Wait a second. That's one too many bouncers for the over and it's a no ball! Free hit coming up!