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Sunrisers Eastern Cape

Sunrisers Eastern Cape is a South African professional Twenty20 franchise cricket team that competes in the SA20 tournament.[1] The team is based in Gqeberha, and was formed in 2022. The team's home-ground is St George's Park Cricket Ground. The team is coached by Adrian Birrell.[2][3] The franchise is owned by the Indian SUN Group.[4][5]

Franchise history

In August 2022, Cricket South Africa announced the establishment of the SA20, a Twenty20 Cricket competition to be started in 2023. The teams for the competition, representing six cities, including the Eastern Cape, were put up on auction in September 2022. The Eastern Cape franchise was purchased by Sun Group.[6]

2023 season

They were the champions of the first season of the tournament after they beat Pretoria Capitals by four wickets in the final at the Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg. Having successfully lead the team to their inaugural SA20 title, Markram was later appointed as the captain of Sunrisers Hyderabad for the 2023 season of the IPL.[7]

2024 season

The Sunrisers defended their title to become champions for a second time. They beat Durban's Super Giants by 89 runs in the final at Cape Town.[8]

2025 season

The season started poorly, with the Sunrisers losing their first three games, and after four games they were bottom of the log. However, they finished strongly, ending in third place and qualifying for the Eliminator.

In the knockout rounds, they defeated Joburg Super Kings in the Eliminator and then Paarl Royals in the 2nd Qualifier. However, they were comprehensively defeated by MI Cape Town in the final.[9]

Statistics

Most runs

Player Match Runs Batting average High score 100s 50s
Aiden Markram 36 967 34.53 100 1 5
Tristan Stubbs 36 723 32.86 66* 0 3
Jordan Hermann 30 666 25.61 106* 1 3
Tom Abell 23 502 27.88 65 0 4
Marco Jansen 35 486 28.58 71* 0 3
  • Source :[10] as of 9 Feb 2025

Most wickets

Player Wickets Bowling average Best bowling
Marco Jansen 47 19.38 5/30
Ottniel Baartman 41 15.92 4/10
Liam Dawson 22 22.54 3/17
Roelof van der Merwe 20 9.55 6/20
Daniel Worrall 17 17.88 3/20
Aiden Markram 17 21.82 2/7
  • Source :[11] as of 9 Feb 2025

Administration and support staff

Position Name
Head coach Adrian Birrell
Assistant coach Baakier Abrahams
Batting coach Russell Domingo
Bowling coach Dale Steyn
Fielding coach Ryan Cook
  • Source : SA20.co.za[12]

Seasons

Seasons

Year League standing Final standing
2023 3rd out of 6 Champions
2024 1st out of 6 Champions
2025 3rd out of 6 Runners up
  •   C: champions
  •   RU: runner-up
  •   SF team qualified for the semi-final stage of the competition

Season summary

Year Played Wins Losses Tied/NR
2023 12 6 5 1
2024 12 9 2 1
2025 13 7 6 0
Source: ESPNCricinfo[13]

Note:

  • NR indicates No result.
  • Abandoned matches are indicated as no result.

References

  1. ^ "Cricket South Africa announces new six-team franchise-based T20 competition". ESPNcricinfo.
  2. ^ "Cricket South Africa | T20 Comes Home as Csa and Supersport Announce Grand New Event".
  3. ^ "Inaugural SA20 league to begin on January 10". ESPNcricinfo.
  4. ^ "IPL franchise owners buy all six teams in South Africa's new T20 league". ESPNcricinfo.
  5. ^ "SA20 2024: Sunrisers Eastern Cape complete players list ft. Aiden Markram and Temba Bavuma". ESPNcricinfo.
  6. ^ "DEFENDING CHAMPIONS' NEWBIES EAGER TO THRILL ORANGE ARMY". sa20.co.za.
  7. ^ "Sunrisers Hyderabad appoint Aiden Markram as captain ahead of IPL 2023". Hindustan Times. 23 February 2023. Retrieved 23 February 2023.
  8. ^ "SA20 booming as Sunrisers do the business again", ESPNcricinfo
  9. ^ "'Baby AB' Drewald Brevis takes MI Cape Town to first-ever SA20 title, one six at a time". The Times of India. 9 February 2025. Retrieved 9 February 2025.
  10. ^ "Sunrisers Eastern Cape SA20 Records". ESPNcricinfo.
  11. ^ "Sunrisers Eastern Cape Most Wicket". ESPNcricinfo.
  12. ^ "Know Your Team: Sunrisers Eastern Cape - Coaching Staff". sa20.co.za. 19 December 2023. Retrieved 28 May 2024.
  13. ^ "SA20 Records - Sunrisers Eastern Cape". ESPNCricinfo.