South Africa star Aiden Markram, on Tuesday (February 7), pulled off one of the greatest catches of all time as he led his team Sunrisers Eastern Cape to a thumping win over Durban Super Giants in the first qualifier of the ongoing SA20 2024.
Batting first, the Sunrisers posted a competitive total of 157/8 in the allotted 20 overs. English opener Dawid Malan starred with the bat for the team, scoring 63 off 45 balls with the help of 6 fours and a six. Aiden Markram also played a crucial knock of 30 runs as his side managed to post a 150-plus total.
At 110 for 2 in the 14th over, they were looking set to post well above 170 runs. However, the middle and lower-order batters failed to provide a good finish to the innings. The momentum was with Durban Super Giants and the Sunrisers needed a good start with the ball.
Marco Jansen struck in his very first over to remove Tony de Zorzi and gave his team the first breakthrough. In the 4th over, Ottniel Baartman Matthew Breetzke as well. And in the same over, Aiden Markram came up with the unbelievable effort on the field to put his team well on top.
On the fifth ball of the over, JJ Smuts went for a pull short towards mid-on and it seemed like his shot would go over Aiden Markram’s head with ease. However, the Sunrisers captain had other plans. The Proteas star made a timely jump and took the catch with one hand while being airborne.
Watch Aiden Markram’s stunning catch:
𝐈𝐬 𝐢𝐭 𝐚 𝐛𝐢𝐫𝐝, 𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐭 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐞.. 𝐧𝐨 𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐒𝐮𝐩𝐞𝐫 𝐀𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧. 🦸♂️#Betway #SA20 #Playoffs #SECvDSG #WelcomeToIncredible pic.twitter.com/WFz4dZJvPW
— Betway SA20 (@SA20_League) February 6, 2024
The Sunrisers went on to win the game by 51 runs to storm into the final. They bowled out the Super Giants for 106 runs to register a comfortable win. Speaking at the end of the match, Markram praised his teammates, saying:
“The team is full of characters who want to fight and I am fortunate that they were up for it today. We focus quite a lot on conditions, see what is our best chance to win and execute those plans.”
