TimesofIndia.com in Cape Town: Tristan Stubbs was full of jokes on the eve of the fourth SA20 final against Pretoria Capitals. That is not just the fourth final of South Africa’s T20 competition, but also for the Sunrisers Eastern Cape (SEC). No team has had a more jaw-droppingly good record in franchise cricket than the SEC. They’ve now been to all four finals and won the silverware twice.With Capitals skipper Keshav Maharaj joining him for media duties, Stubbs joked he would reveal their strategy only after the final at Newlands. He also elicited a chuckle upon revealing he had far too many requests for tickets. (Alas, Newlands is sold out for the SA20 final!)
The 25-year-old was casual and calm even as his team took the longer route to their ‘usual’ place in the SA20 calendar. Having finished top of the league table, they lost to the Capitals in the first qualifier. During the second chance, they romped past Paarl Royals at the Wanderers.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!A few hours later, they were in the Western Cape, back in their usual territory — preparing for the final, the skipper posing next to the trophy and taking questions at a swanky five-star hotel.And the skipper here, Tristan Stubbs, has plenty to prove going into the final. As the only new leader in the SA20 Season 4, Stubbs had giant Aiden Markram-shaped shoes to fill. So far, he’s learnt the pressures of the job as things go along but hasn’t shied away from seeking help from seniors like Quinton de Kock when stumped.
Sunrisers Eastern Cape captain Tristan Stubbs (SA20)
“The most challenging has been some days you feel like you know exactly what needs to be done and then other days I’m like I have no clue what to do,” Stubbs said.“But I’ve had good senior players. We’ve pretty much bounced everything off each other, but it’s just when some days you’re so decisive and you know what you want to do and other days you get a gut feeling and some days it doesn’t rock up,” continued Stubbs who has contributed 129 runs from 11 matches this season at an average of 43 and produced a best score of an unbeaten 47.Therein lies the problem with most cricketers who take on captaincy duties – their free-flowing cricket goes for a toss. Having come into South Africa’s T20 World Cup squad as an injury replacement for Donovan Ferreira, the pressure is on Stubbs to find form.
Tristan Stubbs has been added into the South Africa’s T20 World Cup squad as an injury replacement for Donovan Ferreira. (SA20)
Having been acquired by the SEC in 2022 for R9.2 million, Stubbs has been part of the franchise since the very beginning. He, alongside Marco Jansen and Jordan Hermann, have been to all finals now. Except the 2023/24 season, where Stubbs scored 301 runs at an average of 60.20 and strike rate of 168.15, the Knysna-born batter has not fulfilled his promise. Not yet at least.Stubbs, who is scoring at a disappointing strike rate of 119.44, is a shadow of the player who reached the highs of 378 runs in 14 innings in IPL 2024. The fall also cost him his place in the Proteas setup, which he regained only due to injuries.“He’s got the experience and we do know that he’s got the power game and the touch game and the complete package when he’s firing,” South Africa coach Shukri Conrad had said this week of Stubbs.“I think it’s up to us to be able to unlock all of that again. And it might just be one little switch somewhere.”Both Stubbs and SEC would be hopeful that the switch gets flicked on Sunday evening — when it all matters.
Revenge on the mind?
When the SEC and Capitals met in the first qualifier, played at Kingsmead, the Sunrisers looked to be ahead at one point before Capitals got the job done with ease. That broke the SEC’s three-match winning run over the Capitals, which stretched back to the previous season.Is revenge on his, and the team’s, mind going into the final? Stubbs smiled slightly before saying, “No no! There’s no revenge! We start nought-for-nought, We’ll plan like we do for most games,” he explained.
Sunrisers Eastern Cape captain Tristan Stubbs with Pretoria Capitals captain Keshav Maharaj (SA20)
“The important thing I guess is not getting too far ahead of yourselves. I think that’s the key in a final.“You don’t look too far ahead. You play the current or in the moment. You never really try and put your foot off the pedal. If you’ve got a team on top, you try and, as best as you can, keep the pressure on as much as possible,” stated Stubbs.
Ganguly, Pollock-coached Capitals target maiden title
In their second SA20 final appearance, Pretoria Capitals chase their maiden success. In the 2023 season, Capitals had finished runners-up at the Wanderers. In the two seasons that followed, they didn’t even qualify for the playoffs. A much-changed squad later, with Keshav Maharaj at the helm, and a legendary combination of Sourav Ganguly and Shaun Pollock running the show from the sidelines, they’d be keen on turning the tide this time.Speaking ahead of the final, Ganguly revealed he had met Dewald Brevis and Maharaj when the South African team were in India. He continued to stay in constant touch with the unit, as much as a month before start in late December.“It’s been good in the last 40 days. So, it’s been a good relationship. It’s not about the coach, it’s about the players. I’ve always tried to help these young boys, but it’s their intensity and their want to become better that is the reason that we’ve played so well,” he said during the JioStar Press Room.
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The likes of Brevis, Bryce Parsons and Sherfane Rutherford have benefitted from Ganguly and Pollock’s presence in the dugout.“Ganguly is very excited. It’s his first assignment as coach. He has been a captain who has won on many big occasions for India. Having someone of his stature in our dressing room has brought that sense of calm to the changing room. He is very positive, he is very accessible because he wants the best out of his players. He gives everyone the same equal love that everyone deserves,” said Maharaj, who is Capitals’ highest wicket-taker this season.“It’s not easy carrying drinks and doing all the other stuff. But he has made it very clear that all members of the squad have a hand in getting the team up as a unit. Fingers crossed we can go all the way, and hopefully it unlocks a lot of opportunities for him.”
SA20 final livestreaming details
*SA20 FINAL LIVE: Watch Pretoria Capitals vs Sunrisers Eastern Cape on JioStar (Star Sports on TV and JioHotstar on OTT) at 7PM IST*
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