Africa-Press – South-Africa. Sunrisers Eastern Cape spinner Roelof van der Merwe struggled to contain his joy after his six-wicket haul handed his team a massive 124-run win against Durban’s Super Giants at St George’s Park on Sunday.
Van der Merwe, a Titans product who has represented South Africa and the Netherlands in limited-overs cricket, broke the back of the Super Giants’ chase after a supreme batting effort from the top four allowed the hosts to post an imposing 210/2.
The Super Giants didn’t even get close, falling for their second consecutive sub-100 total, with Van der Merwe removing Kyle Mayers, Heinrich Klaasen, Quinton de Kock, Jason Holder, Dwaine Pretorius, and Prenelan Subrayen.
After a slow start to the tournament, he’s taken 12 wickets in four games, underscoring his value for a team that plays on a traditionally low and slow wicket.
Van der Merwe wasn’t upset at missing out on a few games, but said he’ll operate in whatever capacity the team requires him.
“You don’t get 6/20 every week and it’s the best bowling that I’ve had,” Van der Merwe said.
“When they say you’re on the wave, stay on it. I’ll take it as it comes and I hope I’ll get something that’s closer to that, from where I can help the team get over the line and hope to win the trophy.
“I’m a simple man and if the team wins, I’m happy. I wasn’t too upset that I missed the first few games and at that stage, that was the right call.
“We lost a couple of games, made some changes, whether it’s me coming in or guys getting into form, so I don’t know.
“If I’m picked, I’ll play and if I’m not, I’ll be on the side-line supporting, so if we win, I’m happy.”
The Sunrisers went into Sunday’s game on the back of a five-wicket loss against the Joburg Super Kings at home in a low-scoring dogfight on Saturday.
But on the same surface, they racked up runs and made sure the chase for the visitors was next to impossible.
Van der Merwe said they were still learning about themselves, but felt they played what they felt was close to the perfect game.
“We often talk about the perfect game, and I think this has been the closest we’ve been to one in the competition,” Van der Merwe said.
“We’re still finding each other, our rhythms, and how we play together while finding that perfect mix.
“We’re still learning about how we play, where we’re playing, and how we’re going to win games, so we’re getting closer.”
The Sunrisers complete their home programme on Tuesday when they host the Paarl Royals from where they finish the tournament with games away to the Super Giants and the Super Kings.
The 38-year-old Van der Merwe admitted they’ve had limitations in every game they’ve played in, but also learned from their mistakes.
“We’ve had shortcomings in each game in different departments, so it’s not a trend that we’ve had games where we’ve got things that we need to improve on,” Van der Merwe said.
“It’s good that different things happen because you don’t want to be stuck with the same things over and over, so in that sense, we’ve done well as a team and done well together.”
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