Image Credit- SA20
When the SA20 finishes on Saturday in front of a
sold-out Cape Town crowd, it is expected to pass its second-season test. Since
the competition’s first appearance last year, it has gained momentum thanks to
new sponsors, television partnerships, and strong attendance at each of the six
locations. However, it still conflicts with the increasingly full schedule of
T20 leagues and international matches.
In the championship match between the defending
champion Sunrisers Eastern Cape (SEC) and the first-time finalists Durban’s
Super Giants (DSG), all those figures have one more chance to grow.
After losing to DSG in their opening game, SEC had to
wait until their third encounter to secure a victory. Their only other setback
en route to the championship game was a three-run loss to Pretoria Capitals.
Since then, they’ve romped through five games, winning Qualifier 1 handily
against DSG.
Before losing to SEC in a considerably lower-scoring
game and Pretoria Capitals in a high-scoring encounter in the middle of their
season, DSG had won their first three games. Before SEC overtook them at the
end of the league stage, they had a run of five straight victories and were
ahead of the points table for the majority of the second half. When they fell
to SEC in Qualifier 1 and had to go to Johannesburg to play in Qualifier 2
against the revitalised Johannesburg Super Kings, things got complicated. Their
commanding 69-run victory guaranteed them a trip to Cape Town for the
championship.
If big-hitting is your poison, you won’t be able to
look away from Heinrich Klaasen, who is currently in the six-smashing phase of
his career and has an astounding strike rate of 208.87. His best efforts came
in Qualifier 2 when he hit 74 off 30 balls and in DSG’s chase of a revised
target of 167 in 16.3 overs against MI Cape Town overs. Both of these knocks
demonstrated his ability to play well under duress.
But who will be able to stop him? That can be a person
with a much smaller worldwide prominence. Ottniel Baartman has not received any
international caps, despite being a member of several South African Test teams.
He tops the wicket rankings with 16 wickets at an economy rate of 7.09, the
lowest of all bowlers with over ten wickets in the competition, and an average
of 12.18. Baartman won’t give Klaasen much to work with because his strengths
are in pace-off variations.