Sunrisers chase third SA20 title, Capitals their first as familiar foes meet in final
Sunrisers return to familiar territory while a rebuilt Capitals chase elusive glory
Firdose Moonda
24-Jan-2026 • 7 hrs ago
Keshav Maharaj and Tristan Stubbs will meet once again on Sunday • SA20
Big picture - Familiar foes, fresh stakes
The fourth final of the SA20 is a repeat of the first when Sunrisers Eastern Cape played Pretoria Capitals on a reserve day in Johannesburg to begin a remarkable run of success in this competition. There has not been an SA20 final that Sunrisers have not played in and they've won two out of three. History favours them heavily when it comes to crunch games, especially as their opposition have walked a different path.
After finishing as losing finalists in season one, Capitals did not make the playoffs in seasons two and three, and so, changed almost everything about their make-up for season four. Remarkably, for a team based on the Highveld, Capitals' new coaching staff of Sourav Ganguly and Shaun Pollock appointed a spin-bowling captain in Keshav Maharaj and he has led from the front.
Not only is he Capitals' leading wicket-taker but he has an economy rate of 6.62 - little over a run a ball from the 222 he has delivered. Only five other bowlers have been more miserly this season and none of them have bowled more than 18 overs.
Maharaj has led a batting line-up bookended by big hitters from the Caribbean and both Shai Hope and Sherfane Rutherford have contributed and are in the top five leading run-scorers of the competition. With Dewald Brevis beginning to find his touch and an attack that is led by South African international Lungi Ngidi and Lizaad Williams, Capitals have capitalised on a good auction and could become just third team to win the SA20.
Sunrisers, who could not complete a three-peat last year, will stand in their way. Theirs is an outfit built on a strong local player base, which was enhanced with the acquisition of Anrich Nortje at the auction, and smart international picks. In Adi Birrell, they have a respected coach, who knows how to bring the best out of his players. Quinton de Kock has blossomed under Birrell and leads the run charts while Nortje is the second-highest wicket-taker and needs four to finish first. Their foreign signings include 21-year old James Coles, who played an important hand in qualifier 2, Chris Green and Lewis Gregory. Combined, they have enough excitement and experience to lift the trophy for the third time.
On paper, these teams are well-matched and have challenged each other well through the season. Sunrisers won both league matches but Capitals won qualifier one to advance straight to the final. The only downside is that neither will have a home crowd behind them as the match will be played in Cape Town in front of a sell-out Sunday crowd.
In the spotlight: Dewald Brevis and Tristan Stubbs
After becoming the league's most expensive player, when he was bought for R16.5 million (approx US$980,000), Dewald Brevis was expected to set the tournament alight but it took until the final week for him to show his worth.
ln a group stage match against Joburg Super Kings last Sunday, Capitals were 5 for 7 before Brevis and Sherfane Rutherford put together a stand of 103 for the eighth wicket. Brevis contributed a 47-ball 53 and Capitals moved to the top of the points' table. Then, in Qualifier 1 against Sunrisers at Kingsmead, Capitals were 61 for 2 in the eighth over, chasing 171 and Brevis, with an injured finger, combined with Bryce Parsons for a 91-run fourth wicket partnership before he took total control.
He smashed 75 off 38 balls at a strike rate close to 200, hit seven sixes, including three in the final over, and seemed to have conquered his short ball issue. Brevis was regularly dismissed on the hook or pull earlier in the tournament but showed what he can do in Durban and will hope to go on better in the final.
Almost at the other end of the spectrum is Tristan Stubbs, who was the SA20's biggest buy back when the tournament started in 2023. Sunrisers forked out R9.2 million (approx US$570,000) and he has been part of their set-up ever since, and was promoted to captain for this season.
Stubbs has only had one stand out season for them - in 2024 when he was their top run-scorer - but has shown signs of what he is capable of towards the back end of the league phase. He scored an unbeaten 47 off 30 balls against Durban's Super Giants in a match Sunrisers narrowly lost and an important 26 off 22 balls in Qualifier 1, though it also came in defeat.
His disappointment at being unable to take his team over the line spilled out of him in post-match interviews and his desire to do it in the final will be higher than ever. There's also personal motivation for Stubbs. Earlier this week, Stubbs was recalled to South Africa's T20 World Cup squad after injury ruled Donovan Ferreira out and will be keen to find form ahead of the tournament.
Team news
There were injury concerns over Brevis and Lungi Ngidi, who was seen with strapping on his left leg, during the qualifier but both are expected to be fit to play. That will mean the XI that did duty in Qualifier 1 will take the field in the final.
Pretoria Capitals (likely): 1 Shai Hope (wk), 2 Bryce Parsons, 3 Connor Esterhuizen, 4 Dewald Brevis, 5 Sherfane Rutherford, 6 Jordon Cox, 7 Roston Chase, 8 Keshav Maharaj (capt), 9 Lizaad Williams, 10 Lungi Ngidi, 11 Gideon Peters
The loss of Adam Milne to a hamstring injury meant Sunrisers had to call on local bowler Lutho Sipamla for Qualifier 2 and his return of 1 for 14 in two overs could see him keep his place in the side. An alternative would be Beyers Swanepoel or Patrick Kruger but they may be keen not to change a winning combination.
Sunrisers Eastern Cape (likely): 1 Quinton de Kock (wk), 2 Jonny Bairstow, 3 Jordan Hermann, 4 Matthew Breetzke, 5 James Coles, 6 Tristan Stubbs (capt), 7 Marco Jansen, 8 Chris Green, 9 Senuran Miuthusamy, 10 Anrich Nortje, 11 Lutho Sipamla
Pitch and conditions
Newlands started off as a batters' paradise on Boxing Day where 448 runs were scored in the tournament opener. Capitals also topped 200 in their match on December 31 but as soon as the years changed, so did the surfaces. The last three league matches played there, including the game with the early start on Sunday on January 4, were low scoring and won by the chasing team. The decrease in scoring rates may have as much to do with moving to different surfaces on the square as with the hot, windy weather in the Western Cape, which is set to continue. Despite that, Cape Town has the highest run-rate in the tournament this year, with batters scoring at almost nine to the over and another good batting deck should be on the cards for the final.
Stats and trivia
- Capitals and Sunrisers have the best win-loss ratio in Cape Town in the history of the SA20. Two of Sunrisers' four wins at Newlands came in the playoffs in the 2024 edition, which includes the final while Capitals have won three out of four matches at the venue.
- Quinton de Kock's 372 runs are the most by a Sunrisers batter in a single edition of the SA20. De Kock is also 20 runs away from becoming the second South African to score 12,000 T20 runs after Faf du Plessis and entering the top ten all-time leading run-scorers in the format.
- Sherfane Rutherford has the most runs for Capitals in a single edition of the SA20 with 317 runs in this season. His strike rate of 165.96 is the best among the four batters with over 300 runs in the tournament.
Firdose Moonda is ESPNcricinfo's correspondent for South Africa and women's cricket