Picking a combined SunRisers Eastern Cape and Pretoria Capitals playing 11 for SA20 2024 ft. Tristan Stubbs and Adil Rashid
The Sunrisers Eastern Cape play their first home game in more than a week when they take on the bottom-of-the-table Pretoria Capitals on Monday, January 22, at St. George's Park in Gqeberha.
SEC comes into this match on the back of a victory over the Durban Supergiants. Simon Harmer's stellar spell with the ball was well complemented by Tristan Stubbs' electric 37-ball 66 to take them home in the run chase.
On the other hand, Pretoria Capitals' only win this season came against the Durban Supergiants, courtesy of a Will Jacks special, with the side struggling when the England all-rounder fails to score at the top. This is what happened in their last game against JSK.
While Kyle Verreyne tried to bail them out with a well-made 72, their bowlers couldn't stop Donovan Ferreira as they suffered a 3rd defeat in four games.
Both SEC and PC have some wonderful players in their roster. Let's look at the best combined XI Sunrisers Eastern Cape and Pretoria Capitals playing XI.
Top Order: Will Jacks, Jordan Hermann, and Kyle Verreyne (WK)
Will Jacks has been in terrific form recently, both with bat and ball, and he'll have a huge role to play if the Pretoria Capitals are to make the playoffs this season. So far, Jacks has scored 165 runs in four games at an unbelievable strike rate of 196.43, also picking up five wickets at an average of 12.60.
Partnering him at the top of the order is not his PC teammate Phil Salt but rather SEC's opening batter Jordan Hermann. Salt has gotten a couple of starts but hasn't been able to convert them into big scores, whereas Jordan Hermann has a hundred to his name. He would be the perfect foil for Will Jacks, taking time and holding up one end before playing his shots.
At No. 3, Kyle Verreyne, who got his first game of the season against JSK, played a brilliant 52-ball 72 to rescue his side from a top-order collapse. He'll also keep wickets.
Middle-Order: Aiden Markram (C), Tristan Stubbs, James Neesham, and Marco Jansen
SEC has the better middle-order of these two teams and that's why three out of four players come from their ranks. Markram is one of the most reliable middle-order batters in the league, and along with Will Jacks, also bowls some handy off-spin.
Tristan Stubbs showed his class, single-handedly changing the momentum of the game and helping SEC chase down the target against DSG from a moment of peril. He's one of the most dangerous batters in the league and deserves a place in the team.
James Neesham is a perfect utility player and has already scored some valuable runs as well as picking up some key wickets. To round out the middle-order, new-ball bowler and hard-hitting all-rounder Marco Jansen is a must-have.
Bowlers: Liam Dawson, Adil Rashid, Eathan Bosch, and Ottneil Baartman
While Simon Harmer could also have taken the place of Dawson, the presence of two off-spinners in Jacks and Markram makes the left-arm spinner who can also bat a quality option.
Adil Rashid is the second front-line spinner in the team because of the nature of the wicket which does give an advantage to spinners that bowl accurately. Having a leg-spinner like Rashid, who's one of the best white-ball bowlers, is always a plus for any team.
The two seamers who'll join Jansen to form the pace battery are Eathan Bosch and Ottneil Baartman. While Baartman predominantly operates in the middle and death overs and does that job really well, Eathan Bosch is a quality new-ball bowler, who should form a good combination with Marco Jansen.