Defending champions Sunrisers Eastern Cape registered their fourth successive victory with a 14-run win over Joburg Super Kings at the SA20 in Gqeberha on Friday.
Sunrisers, who have won both editions of the tournament, are up to 19 points just one below the table–topping Paarl Royals, who have played one game less.
The Sunrisers once again relied on their captain Aiden Markram and their most senior bowler Marco Jansen for the win.
Markram held his team's innings together with a high quality 43 from 29 balls, while Tristan Stubbs also enjoyed a welcome return to form with 35 not out off 22 balls.
Opener David Bedingham also contributed a solid 37 that pushed the Sunrisers up to a competitive 165 for four.
Sunrisers' bowling attack then produced a rousing performance to restrict the Super Kings to 151 for 8 in their stipulated 20 overs.
Jansen (2/19) led the way with the new ball in the Powerplay.
Despite having Du Plessis (27 off 18 balls) dropped at slip by Simon Harmer, Jansen responded two balls later to dismiss the JSK skipper in exactly the same fashion.
Harmer made amends by holding on to the chance the second time around.
Devon Conway laid down the anchor for the remainder of the JSK innings with 43 off 40 balls, but did not have sufficient support at the other end.
This was due to sustained pressure from the Sunrisers bowling attack with Richard Gleeson (2/37), Ottneil Baartman (2/32), Liam Dawson (1/10) and Markram (1/21) all chipping in to maintain the pressure on the Super Kings.
"They (bowling unit) are clear in their plans, have played a lot of T20 cricket. They assess conditions, come up with the plan and then it comes down to execution,” Markram said.