Around eight years ago, just after a then young Tony de Zorzi was given the honor of leading an age-group Protea outfit to the World Cup, the southpaw’s stocks collapsed like a house of cards. Touted for the top-most echelon of the game from a young age, the teen Tony de Zorzi (the school he went to in Johannesburg, King Edwards VII, counts Graeme Smith and Quinton de Kock among its alma mater) didn’t have the greatest time of it at the World Cup.
Tony De Zorzi had to start from scratch, one of the hardest things to do in elite sport as you have to unlearn and relearn the entire grammar of the game. So he put himself through the grind, taking the scenic route to the top. Luckily for him, there was a believer. Former New Zealand cricketer, Kruger van Wyk, a coach at University of Pretoria. At a time when Tony De Zorzi was at a low point in his life, Van Wyk appointed Tony De Zorzi as the captain.
Tony De Zorzi, 27, has taken his time but he’s now there, playing at the level he was earmarked for. In front of a packed crowd under the lights at Supersport Park in Centurion, he reduced the second qualifier between Sunrisers Eastern Cape (SEC) and Paarl Royals to a footnote. Sunrisers Eastern Cape booked their place in the SA20 final with a commanding eight-wicket win over Paarl Royals at Centurion.
Sunrisers Eastern Cape blew away Paarl Royals in the Qualifier 2 of the SA20, riding on Tony de Zorzi’s attacking 49-ball 78 run knock, to make it to their third straight final to meet MI Cape Town on Saturday for the summit clash. The two-time defending champions chased down 176 with four balls to spare, keeping their unbeaten playoff record intact and setting up a showdown with MI Cape Town in Johannesburg on Saturday.
Pitch Report and Toss
Pitch Report : ‘Same pitch as that of last night, but it does look quite dry. Some indentations and some cracks, it doesn’t look too bad though, the pace will be OK, might get quicker under lights and will skid on. The spinners might enjoy this surface a little bit more’, reckons Mike Haysman, in his pitch report.
Toss : Paarl Royals skipper David Miller won the toss and chose to bat with no changes in the playing XI. Sunrisers Eastern Cape skipper Aiden Markram bowling first also made no changes in the playing XI.
Rubin Hermann’s 81 and Lhuan Dre Pretorius 59 runs powers SEC to 175 for 4 in 20 overs
After opting to bat, on what looked a belter of a batting track, Royals’ had posted 175/4. A day earlier, SEC had clobbered 184 on the same track, so the Royals’ score looked a tad short and it eventually proved that way.
18-year-old Lhuan-dre Pretorius, the find of the tournament this year, combined well with Rubin Hermann after the early blows of Mitchell Owen (0), adding 99 runs for the second wicket, but when Royals’ hoped Pretorius will provide the impetus for the big-hitters, he was caught out for 59 off Craig Overton. David Miller went for 2 off 3 – lbw by Markram – and Dinesh Karthik perished an over later, for 2, to Ottniel Baartman, thus derailing Royals’ innings.
Even though Royals managed 51 in the last four overs, with Andile Phehlukwayo’s breezy 11-ball 22 and Rubin Hermann remaining unbeaten on 53 off 81, SEC would have been the happier team heading into the break.
Paarl Royals, having opted to bat first, relied on a strong second-wicket stand of 99 between Lhuan-dre Pretorius and Rubin Hermann. Pretorius played a steady hand with 59 off 41 balls, while Rubin Hermann delivered his highest SA20 score, smashing an unbeaten 81 from 53 deliveries. Andile Phehlukwayo added a quickfire 22 off 11 balls in the death overs, pushing the Royals to a competitive 175/4.
Tony De Zorzi’s quickfire 78 runs and Jordan Hermann’s 69 runs powers SEC to consecutive 3rd SA20 finals
After losing David Bedingham early, Tony de Zorzi and Jordan Hermann put together a match-winning 111-run partnership for the second wicket, taking Sunrisers into a dominant position. Tony De Zorzi played a fluent knock of 78 before falling to Dunith Wellalage but Hermann remained composed, finishing unbeaten on 69 alongside captain Aiden Markram (11*), guiding his side to home with ease.
Tony De Zorzi and Jordan Hermann combined for a match-winning stand of 111 off 67 balls for the second wicket after Kwena Maphaka had provided the early breakthrough in the fourth over in the form of David Bedingham 9 (8). However, that was the last of Paarl Royals celebration for the remainder of the game as Tony de Zorzi tore into the Royals’ attack clobbering 11 fours and two sixes.
Hermann then steered the innings as the raucous Supersport Centurion crowd cheered every SEC run. And while Jordan would be happy man, the Hermann family would have mixed reactions as his younger brother Rubin’s marvelous 53-ball 81 for the Royals went in vain.
Presentations and Road Ahead
Aiden Markram winning SEC skipper said : Another good night. We are getting there, was happy to restrict them. Good to see guys firing, all coming into place now. It’s a big lift for the guys. It’s nice for them to experience this on such a good big stage. Not too sure for the final. It’s a good wicket usually (in Johannesburg.) For now we need to have some rest, we’ll see what happens in the final.
David Miller the losing PR skipper said : I think we were coming into this game after a few losses. We prepared really well, but T20 cricket goes like that. The Sunrisers in their last a few games pulled it back. It has been a fantastic season, really proud of the unit. There were some outstanding performances. We had a great time spirit and great time off the field. But it is what it is. The Sunrisers played some good cricket, good wishes to them (for the final.)
Tony De Zorzi Player of the Match for his stellar 78 runs said : Very grateful to have been given the opportunity, glad that I repaid the faith. I was really excited. Really happy that I got the chance. The coach has been working really hard with me, he said your chance will come. Most of our players are in form.
Chasing 176 to earn the right to face MI Cape Town in the final of the third edition of the SA20, Tony De Zorzi was full of gumption and enterprise during his 49-ball 78. Even if he missed the chance to rubber-stamp his class with a ton, when he got out, all tension and jeopardy had been removed from the contest.
In what was the SA20s 100th match, PR may have been forgiven for thinking they had put up a challenging total to challenge SEC’s hegemony of the tournament — the defending champions are one win away from a three-peat, an extremely rare thing for a side in an environment as fickle as a month-long T20 league.
The ask had become harder as soon as the team in Orange lost David Bedingham in the fourth over. But Tony De Zorzi, who has established himself in the national team set-up in the longer formats, was already finding his range. He had got the chase underway with a trio of boundaries off the in-form Bjorn Fortuin in the third over. He followed up that with a six off Mujeeb Ur Rahman to close out the powerplay.
With Jordan Hermann happy to play second fiddle, Tony De Zorzi, who frequently credits his mother Natasha (single parent) for any and every run he makes, gradually began to leave his batting imprint on the game. With the required run rate creeping above nine, he backed away and cut Dayyaan Galiem for a statement four through point, an extremely profitable area for him on the night. When he wasn’t cutting pacers through the off-side, he was hitting spinners on the leg-side.
Sunrisers Eastern Cape make it to the final again. The defending champions are into the final once again! The Paarl Royals posted a competitive total earlier in the day as Lhuan-dre Pretorius and Rubin Hermann played crucial knocks to set the tone, however, Sunrisers Eastern Cape have done a better job while chasing.
The defending champions lost David Bedingham pretty early in the run chase, but the partnership between Tony de Zorzi and Jordan Hermann kept them ahead during the run chase. de Zorzi was aggressive for most of the chase, and once he departed, Jordan Hermann took control of the proceedings.
The Royals couldn’t pick wickets under lights and the Sunrisers batters kept getting regular boundaries at the same time and kept the scoreboard ticking with nonchalance. None of the Royals bowlers were effective as the top-order batters of Sunrisers took them over the line without breaking a sweat. The Final of the tournament will be played on 8th February and it would be interested to see whether SA 2025 gets the new champion or SEC will complete hattrick of Championships Titles.