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Sunrisers Eastern Cape is a South African professional Twenty20 franchise cricket team that competes in the SA20 tournament.[1] The team is based in Gqeberha, and was formed in 2022. The team’s home-ground is St George’s Park Cricket Ground. The team is coached by Adrian Birrell.[2][3] The franchise is owned by the Indian SUN Group.[4][5]

History

In August 2022, Cricket South Africa announced the establishment of the SA20, a Twenty20 Cricket competition to be started in 2023. The teams for the competition, representing six cities, including the Eastern Cape, were put up on auction in September 2022. The franchise is owned by Kalanithi Maran of the Sun Group.[6]

2023 season

They were the champions of the first season of the tournament after they beat Pretoria Capitals by four wickets in the final at the Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg. Having successfully lead the team to their inaugural SA20 title, Markram was later appointed as the captain of Sunrisers Hyderabad for the 2023 season of the IPL.[7]

2024 season

The Sunrisers defended their title to become champions for a second time. They beat Durban’s Super Giants by 89 runs in the final at Cape Town.[8]

2025 season

The season started poorly, with the Sunrisers losing their first three games, and after four games they were bottom of the log. However, they finished strongly, ending in third place and qualifying for the Eliminator.

In the knockout rounds, they defeated Joburg Super Kings in the Eliminator and then Paarl Royals in the 2nd Qualifier. However, they were comprehensively defeated by MI Cape Town in the final.[9]

2026 season

Current squad

The squad of the Sunrisers Eastern Cape for the 2026 SA20 season as of 10 September 2025.[10]

  • Players with international caps are listed in bold.
Sunrisers Eastern Cape squad
No. Name Nationality Birth date Batting style Bowling style Year signed Salary Notes
Batters
Wicket-keepers
All-rounders
Bowlers

Seasons

Seasons

Year League standing Final standing
2023 3rd out of 6 Champions
2024 1st out of 6 Champions
2025 3rd out of 6 Runners up
2026 1st out of 6 Champions
  •   C: champions
  •   RU: runner-up
  •   SF team qualified for the semi-final stage of the competition

Season summary

Year Played Wins Losses Tied/NR
2023 12 6 5 1
2024 12 9 2 1
2025 13 7 6 0
2026 13 7 4 2
Source: ESPNCricinfo[11]

Note:

  • NR indicates No result.
  • Abandoned matches are indicated as no result.

Statistics

Most runs

Player Match Runs Batting average High score 100s 50s
Aiden Markram 36 967 34.53 100 1 5
Jordan Hermann 42 939 36.60 106* 1 4
Tristan Stubbs 48 915 36.60 66* 0 4
Marco Jansen 47 563 25.59 71* 0 3
Tom Abell 23 502 27.88 65 0 4
  • Source :[12] as of 26 January 2026

Most wickets

Player Wickets Bowling average Best bowling
Marco Jansen 60 19.53 5/30
Ottniel Baartman 41 15.92 4/10
Liam Dawson 22 22.54 3/17
Roelof van der Merwe 20 9.55 6/20
Anrich Nortje 18 15.77 4/13
  • Source :[13] as of 26 January 2026

References