CHENNAI: Three SA20 seasons. Three finals. Two titles. That has been the reputation of Sunrisers Eastern Cape in the premier T20 league of South Africa so far. Since its inception, SECC have been the most consistent team of the tournament under Aiden Markram, winning two titles (2023 and 2024).
Through all that, there is one local lad who had played an integral part in the franchise's success. Tristan Stubbs. The Gqeberha born and bred was a rising star when the league began three years ago. In 2024, he smashed 301 runs at 60 average and 168.16 strike rate, helping SECC win their second SA20 title.
However, he is not just a prodigal batting star anymore. Stubbs is now the captain and leader of the Sunrisers for the upcoming edition of the SA20 tournament. Heading into the mega auctions after three seasons, the Sunrisers retained Stubbs over Markram, and soon he was handed the leadership role as well.
The 25-year-old has always been identified as one for the future from the time he broke into the Eastern Province team. Right from hitting the first ball he faced in professional cricket for a six, Stubbs has had the makings of a super star, but he had to go through his own journey to get to this point.
In the years that followed his debut, Stubbs developed a reputation for being one of the most destructive batters in death overs. Last year, he had a stellar season with Delhi Capitals, reached the final of the T20 World Cup with South Africa before winning the SA20 with Sunrisers.
2025 has not been the same. It has been a year of ups and down, but Stubbs is now ready to put it all behind and lead Sunrisers into the future. The captaincy becomes even more special considering how he is from Gqeberha (previously Port Elizabeth), where the franchise is based out of. "We've got a lot of local boys who are brought up in PE, like live in PE. And I can't explain to people what playing at St George's means when you're a local boy," Stubbs said during a virtual media interaction on JioStar Press Room ahead of SA20 Season 4. "That's going to hopefully feed through the team and just motivate everyone to do what we've done in the first three years and hopefully just match that sort of intensity on the field," he added.
Asked what kind of captain he wants to be, Stubbs said that the team will play hard and enjoy their cricket as much as they can. "We've had three pretty successful seasons under Aiden. Sunrisers as a team has just got a 'enjoy the match, play as hard as you can' (kind of set-up). And it'll be pretty much like that. We'll play hard on the field, compete for everything, but we're just going to enjoy it," said Stubbs.
Catch all the action from SA20 Season 4, December 26 2025 - January 25 2026, LIVE on JioHotstar and Star Sports Network
