CHENNAI: A month or so ago, South Africa’s explosive middle-order batter Tristan Stubbs has had a terrible lean patch when he was struggling to score runs. In the lead up to his first game in fourth edition of SA20 he was captain of the Sunrisers Eastern Cape, the team which he has been in since Day 1.
A week into the tournament, he gets the news of his omission from the South Africa’s T20 World Cup squad. His 2025 in the T20 format was a mixed bag. After a breakout year 2024, where he scored 1219 runs in the format, the 25-year-old only managed to score 749 runs the following year. His match-winning knock (63 n.o) for SEC against Pretoria Capitals in the SA20 final on Sunday may help him turn his fortunes ahead of a big year. He couldn’t have asked for a better timing to get back into form — days before the T20 World Cup in India. And for the records, he has got a late call-up as injury replacement for Donovan Ferreira.
After watching Capitals' Dewald Brevis slam a century on a difficult track to set a target of 159, Stubbs, along with Matthew Breetzke (68 n.o), helped the Sunrisers recover from 48/4 in eight overs to chase the target in the final over. He used his batting muscle in the final over, when it was most needed. He slammed two sixes off Bryce Parsons, and sealed the win in style.
Stubbs' knock in the final, would come as a pleasant surprise for the national team selectors. SA20 commissioner and former Proteas skipper Graeme Smith was filled with joy, when asked to recall Stubbs' knock at Cape Town. “I thought he nailed it in the final. He rebuilt the innings and showed his ability to take the game on. We have seen him do it at the IPL, for South Africa and at the SA20,” he said in an interaction facilitated by SA20 on Tuesday. He felt that Stubbs’ innings augured well for him and for South Africa in the lead-up to the T20 World Cup starting February 7. The 2024 finalists play their first match against Canada on February 9 in Ahmedabad.
“That innings would give him a world of confidence and that is amazing. He would have grown in stature. He had to fight back from a few disappointments in the last six months and I love it when a player under pressure really shows his worth on a big stage like that final,” he said, hoping that he carries that form into the World Cup.
Like Stubbs, wicketkeeper batter Ryan Rickleton also showed his worth after initially missing out on the T20 squad, slamming two tons in an otherwise forgettable season for 2025 champions MI Cape town. That earned him the call-up, as an injury replacement for Tony de Zorzi. Smith felt that the tournament now has increased attention. “The World Cup squad had to be announced, there were some disappointments. Those players used the platform of SA20 to perform really well, which creates talking points. To have the country debating the World Cup squad means that there is a lot more passion that is coming back into our game, than it was five or six years ago. We see fans flock back to the stadiums and have new people watching cricket for the first time,” he said.