‌Opting to bat first worked wonders for the Sunrisers Eastern Cape as openers Malan and Hermann were off to a flying start. With 53/0 in the powerplay to 130/0 in 10 overs, they both looked dangerous aiming to put a gigantic total on the scoreboard. However, showing grit and confidence, skipper Keiron Pollard decided to take the kookaburra and bowl. The 13th over of the innings gave a huge sigh of relief for the MICT players as their skipper dismissed Dawid Malan and broke the crucial SEC opening partnership of 138 runs. Pollard used his brilliance and bowled a gentle off cutter on a length outside off with Malan totally miscued it back to Pollard. The lack of pace did not work for Malan as he departed scoring 53 runs off 37 balls. Pollard grins and was all smiles as MICT finally experience some respite after a solid thrashing by the Malan-Hermann duo.