Ruthless JSK ends Sunrisers' winning streak

Joburg Super Kings Easily Beat Sunrisers Eastern Cape to End Their Winning Streak

Joburg Super Kings delivered a strong performance and secured a convincing nine-wicket victory against Sunrisers Eastern Cape at the Wanderers on Sunday (January 26).

Joburg Super Kings delivered a strong performance and secured a convincing nine-wicket victory against Sunrisers Eastern Cape at the Wanderers on Sunday (January 26). Choosing to bowl first, Lutho Sipamla (3-13) started well with an impressive opening spell, and Hardus Viljoen (4-24) helped cause a collapse in the later stages, leading to the visitors being bowled out for just 118 runs. Devon Conway (76*) then guided the chase, and the home team finished the job with six overs to spare, earning an additional bonus point. This loss also ended Sunrisers' winning streak of four games.

At first, the pitch looked like it would be good for batting, so it didn't seem like the game would be so one-sided. However, like other pitches at this venue, the new ball became a challenge, and the Sunrisers struggled again due to poor shot choices and weak technique. Zak Crawley was fortunate to avoid a first-ball duck in their last match because Sipamla overstepped, but this time he didn't get any breaks. A fast outswinger caused him to edge the ball, which was caught at first slip, setting a dominating tone for the Super Kings.

In that same over, Tom Abell followed suit and lost his wicket while trying to drag the ball onto his stumps, leaving the team at 0/2. Jordan Hermann promoted to number four, was the next to go, getting caught off Sipamla's bowling in his next over. Then Viljoen dismissed Aiden Markram for a golden duck, leaving the Sunrisers struggling at 17/4 during the powerplay. Despite the disaster, David Bedingham (48 off 40 balls) started to find his groove with some nice boundaries, and he received some support from Tristan Stubbs (37 off 38 balls), who took his time during their partnership.

Bedingham had to carry most of the scoring, eventually leading to his wicket as he chipped a catch to long-off while facing Imran Tahir. His partnership with Stubbs, which added 57 runs, gave Sunrisers a little relief. Stubbs then teamed up with Marco Jansen (who scored 22 off 18 balls) for another partnership that added 41 runs at a better pace. However, the early loss of wickets meant they couldn't build momentum towards a decent total. In the end, the runs never came as Jansen was dismissed softly, and Stubbs got run out on the next ball.

Beyers Swanepoel and Ottniel Baartman didn’t contribute much, leading to Sunrisers losing their last five wickets for just three runs. The only chance for the defending champions to make a game of it was to take a few wickets during the powerplay. However, Conway and Faf du Plessis made sure that didn’t happen, although du Plessis got out near the end of the six overs. Conway continued to play well and built an important partnership of 85 runs with Wihan Lubbe (25 off 17). The home team finished the game confidently, and to be fair to the Sunrisers, they ended up at least 50 runs short of a competitive score.

Brief scores: Sunrisers Eastern Cape 118/9 in 19 overs (David Bedingham 48; Hardus Viljoen 4-24, Lutho Sipamla 3-13) adrift to Joburg Super Kings 119/1 in 14 overs (Devon Conway 76, Wihan Lubbe 25) by nine wickets.