Best playing 11 of SunRisers Eastern Cape ahead of SA20 2024

The second edition of the SA20 will kickstart with a heavyweight clash between the SunRisers Eastern Cape (SEC) and the Joburg Super Kings (JSK) on Wednesday.

Amidst much trepidation, the inaugural season was a tremendous success, with the six participating teams putting on a show in front of packed houses. After an inconsistent league stage where they won only four of 10 games, SEC upset favorites JSK in the semi-final.

They followed that by stunning table-toppers Pretoria Capitals (PC) in the grand finale to be crowned SA20 champions. Led by the South African T20 captain Aiden Markram again, the franchise has bolstered its side further by adding several English T20 stars.

Among their releases, the one of bowling all-rounder Roelof van der Merwe could hurt the team's chances, considering he was the tournament's leading wicket-taker with 20 scalps last year.

Based on the overall and the team balance, let us look at the best playing XI for the SunRisers Eastern Cape ahead of the 2024 SA20 season.

SunRisers Eastern Cape Squad for SA T20 2024:

Aiden Markram (Captain), Temba Bavuma, Sarel Erwee, Jordan Hermann, Dawid Malan, Tom Abell, Liam Dawson, Ayabulela Gqamane, Marco Jansen, Craig Overton, Adam Rossington, Tristan Stubbs, Brydon Carse, Andile Simelane, Beyers Swanepoel, Ottniel Baartman, Simon Harmer, Sisanda Magala, and Caleb Seleka.

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Openers: Temba Bavuma, Adam Rossington (wk)

Bavuma will look to make amends for his poor recent white-ball form.

After much shuffling, the SunRisers finally settled on an opening combination at the end of last season. The ever-scrutinized Temba Bavuma and English recruit Adam Rossington opened for the side in the games that mattered, including the semi-final and final.

While Bavuma scored a 34-ball half-century in the franchise's final league stage outing, Rossington smashed a match-winning 57 off 30 in a low-scoring finale. The latter played in 10 of SEC's 12 games and was their second leading-scorer with 246 runs at an average of over 27 and a strike rate of 166.21.

Barring the half-century, Bavuma had a dismal tournament in the four matches played. Yet, his pedigree and stature in South African cricket should ensure he opens the batting with Rossington.

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Middle order: Dawid Malan, Jordan Hermann, Aiden Markram (c), Tristan Stubbs

Markram took the SA20 by storm a year ago with bat and ball.

The two openers will be followed by a formidable middle order bolstered by the addition of England star Dawid Malan. With an experience of over 300 T20 games around the globe, the southpaw will walk in at No.3.

Interestingly, Malan averages an impressive 61.33 at a strike rate of 154.62 in four T20Is in South Africa, a sign of his likening to the pitches in the Rainbow Nation. He will be accompanied by last season's late-bloomer Jordan Hermann, who scored 184 runs in eight games.

After some initial struggles, Hermann impressed in the semi-final and final with scores of 48(36) and 22(17).

Skipper Aiden Markram will add the oomph to the lower-middle order with his ability to play dual roles of sheet anchor and big-hitting according to the need of the hour. The 29-year-old is at the peak of his powers, coming off an incredible ODI World Cup and an improbable century in the recent Cape Town Test against India.

Markram was the tournament's third-leading scorer last season, with 366 runs at an average of 33.27 and a strike rate of 127.97. He also picked up 11 wickets with his part-time off-spin at a sensational economy rate of 6.19.

The skipper played the knock of the 2023 season, scoring a scintillating 100 off 58 deliveries at 10/2 against JSK in the semi-final to help the SunRisers qualify for the final.

Power-hitting finisher Tristan Stubbs will complete the middle order with his ability to play quick-fire cameos in the death overs. Stubbs is among the most highly-rated youngsters from the South African ranks, with an overall T20 average of almost 25 and a strike rate of 147.23.

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All-rounders: Marco Jansen, Liam Dawson, Craig Overton

Jansen was the glue that held the SunRisers lineup last season.

South African pace-bowling all-rounder Marco Jansen and a pair of English stars, Liam Dawson and Craig Overton, could form an enviable all-round package at numbers 7,8 and 9.

Jansen had as much, if not more, success with the bat than the ball last year, averaging 44.25 at a strike rate of 150 with the willow. Yet, his bowling was nothing to be sneezed at, with the tall left-arm pacer bagging eight wickets at an economy rate under eight.

Jansen's 28 runs off a Rashid Khan over with four maximums was among the moments of the SA20 last season.

Meanwhile, Dawson and Overton will be playing their maiden SA20 season, but the duo have performed admirably in T20s around the globe. With Markram handling the off-spin duties, left-arm spinner Dawson will provide the spin-bowling variety on mostly seamer-friendly wickets.

The 33-year-old has picked up almost 200 T20 wickets at an average of 26.18 and an economy rate of 7.33, and scored 2,488 runs at a strike rate of 116.37.

Meanwhile, Overton should enjoy the bounce on offer in the South African wickets, and he comes in with 95 wickets and a batting strike rate of 126 in 92 T20 games.

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Bowlers: Sisanda Magala, Ottniel Baartman

Magala had an impressive season for the SunRisers last season.

The out-and-out bowlers that round off the SunRisers' playing XI will be pacers Sisanda Magala and Ottniel Baartman.

Magala's exploits in the inaugural SA20 season earned him T20I and ODI debuts for South Africa. The right-arm pacer can penetrate through batters the powerplay and deceive batters with a mean slower delivery in the death overs. He finished as the side's leading wicket-takers among pacers with 14 scalps in 12 games at an average of 24.

Meanwhile, Baartman had even better-wicket-taking success despite being more expensive for the franchise last season, with 12 scalps in only seven outings. Recently, he earned national selection for the T20I squad against India.

Much like last season, the duo will be relied upon at different stages in the innings to shore up the SunRisers' attack. They picked up two wickets each in the side's four-wicket victory against the Pretoria Capitals in the summit clash.