SA20: De Zorzi Puts Sunrisers Eastern Cape Into Final With Hopes Of Three-peat Alive

Tony de Zorzi's brilliant 78(49) gave Sunrisers Eastern Cape a ticket to their third straight final as the two-time defending champions beat Paarl Royals by eight wickets in Qualifier 2 of the SA20 2025 at the Supersport Park in Centurion on Thursday, February 6. (Live Blog | More Cricket News)

Zorzi was well supported by Jordan Hermann who shook off his bad form to raise an unbeaten half-century to steer the Sunrisers to the 176-run target with four balls remaining in the contest. It has been an incredible turn around for the defending champions whose title defence hopes were hit with a hat-trick of losses at the beginning of the tournament.

The Sunrisers will now meet MI Cape Town in the final with the hope of winning the title three times in a row.

Paarl Royals skipper David Miller had won the toss and opted to bat first on a slightly two-paced Centurion surface.

Check Playing XIs of both the sides below:

Paarl Royals Playing XI: Lhuan-dre Pretorius, Mitchell Owen, Rubin Hermann, Dayyaan Galiem, Dunith Wellalage, David Miller(c), Dinesh Karthik(w), Andile Phehlukwayo, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Bjorn Fortuin, Kwena Maphaka

Sunrisers Eastern Cape Playing XI: David Bedingham, Tony de Zorzi, Jordan Hermann, Tom Abell, Aiden Markram(c), Tristan Stubbs(w), Marco Jansen, Craig Overton, Liam Dawson, Ottneil Baartman, Richard Gleeson

Paarl Royals lost Big Bash League hero Mitch Owen to Marco Jansen for a Duck in just the second over but Lhuan-dre Pretorius and Jordan Hermann steadied the ship. The duo stitched a 99-run partnership before Pretorius was dismissed in the 13th over by Craig Overton.

Skipper Miller was sent back by the opposition captain Aiden Markram in the 15th over and in the next over Dinesh Karthik too was pinned in front of the wickets by Ottneil Baartman. The two setbacks threatened to derail the Royals' innings but Hermann found an able partner in Andile Phehlukwayo and the pair added 49 runs in 24 balls to give a good finish.

Empowered by the brilliant finish, Royals set a 176-run target for the Sunrisers.

Kwena Maphaka forced David Bedingham to edge one to Karthik in the first over to delight the Royals fans early in the defence. However, that was the only happiness they would get in the game as de Zorzi and Hermann combined to put up a superb stand. The pair added 111 runs in just 67 balls to shut down the game. By the time Dunith Wellalage dismissed de Zorzi, the equation was almost run-a-ball. A few hits from Hermann after Zorzi's wicket took Sunrisers close before Markram hit the winning four in the final over.