SA20 Man of the Series today: Who won Capitals vs Sunrisers Man of the Series in SA20 2023 final at Newlands?

Sunrisers Eastern Cape have defeated Pretoria Capitals by 4 wickets to become the champions of the inaugural season of SA20 in Cape Town today. Having finished at the third position on the points table on the back of losing more matches than winning, Sunrisers deserved to lift the title after defeating table-toppers Capitals when it mattered the most.

Owned by the owners of Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Indian Premier League, it is some co-incidence that a Hyderabad-based business has won the first season of a T20 tournament being played in South Africa. It is worth a mention that Deccan Chargers (owned by Deccan Chronicle though) had won the second season (first IPL season to be played in South Africa) of the IPL in 2009.

The rescheduled final match required Sunrisers to score 136 runs in their 20-over quota in order to win the match. Powered by wicket-keeper batter Adam Rossington scoring a match-winning 57 (30) with the help of four fours and five sixes to set the tone first up because of his strike rate of 190, Sunrisers managed to seal the run-chase with four wickets and 3.4 overs left in the match.

SA20 Man of the Series today

Sunrisers captain Aiden Markram bagged the Player of the Series award in SA20 2023. In addition to being the winning captain, Markram also emerged as the the third-highest run-scorer and joint seventh-highest wicket-taker in the competition.

Markram, whose maiden T20 century in the semi-final against Joburg Super Kings played a crucial role in Sunrisers qualifying for the final, scored a total of 366 runs in 12 matches at an average of 33.27 and a strike rate of 127.97 throughout the season. More than just a handy off-spin bowler now, Markram’s 11 wickets came at an average of 14.63, an economy rate of 6.19 and a strike rate of 14.1.

“We were in a spot of bother [in the semi-final] and to come through for the team. It made me really happy. Overall, very happy with how it went [with the ball] and grateful for this award,” Markram told SuperSport during the post-match presentation ceremony.

About the author

Dixit Bhargav

Born and brought up in Pathankot, Dixit Bhargav is an engineering and sports management graduate who works as a Cricket Editor at The SportsRush. Having written more than 10,000 articles across more than five years at TSR, his first cricketing memory dates back to 2002 when former India captain Sourav Ganguly had waved his jersey at the historic Lord’s balcony. What followed for an 8-year-old was an instant adulation for both Ganguly and the sport. The optimist in him is waiting for the day when Punjab Kings will win their maiden Indian Premier League title. When not watching cricket, he is mostly found in a cinema hall watching a Punjabi movie.

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