The Super Kings made heavy work of their chase of 128 at St George's Park before getting home off the penultimate delivery of the evening
Gqeberha: Sunrisers Eastern Cape 127, Joburg Super Kings 128-5 - Joburg Super Kings won by five wickets
Joburg Super Kings gave their SA20 season a kick-start with a tight victory over Sunrisers Eastern Cape.
The Super Kings made heavy work of their chase of 128 at St George's Park before edging home off the penultimate delivery.
Leus du Plooy guided the visitors home by five wickets, making 47 in 40 balls and sharing in a crucial sixth-wicket stand worth 28 in 20 with Romario Shepherd.
Du Plooy's contribution came after Joburg had enjoyed a good start to their chase, as Faf du Plessis and Neil Brand took the Super Kings to 59 for 1 in 8.4 overs.
Brand was dismissed for 16, bowled by Roelof van der Merwe, but du Plessis pushed on with du Plooy. The pair had taken the score on to 80 when du Plessis was lured into giving a catch to Marco Jansen by Jon-Jon Smuts.
Aaron Phangiso claimed four wickets as Joburg Super Kings beat Sunrisers Eastern Cape [Sportzpics/CSA/SA20]
Sunrisers were bowled out for 127 in 18 overs [Sportzpics/CSA/SA20]
At that stage, the Super Kings needed 48 from 7.1 overs, but then Sunrisers began to squeeze.
Fine death bowling from Sisanda Magala and van der Merwe left Joburg needing eight from the final over, and then five from two balls, before Magala over-stepped and du Plooy found the boundary off a thick inside edge.
Joburg's win takes them off the bottom of the table, and they move up to fourth, level on points with their third-placed hosts.
Earlier, Aaron Phangiso and Gerald Coetzee were the key figures in the Super Kings' miserly bowling display.
Phangiso, on his 39th birthday, reacted to being reported for a suspicious bowling action by taking four wickets, and leaking just 20 runs. Among his victims were the dangerous middle-order trio of Tristan Stubbs, Marco Jansen and Smuts. Coetzee, meanwhile, claimed 4 for 24 to mop up the tail.
Sunrisers captain Aiden Markram conceded after the game that his side were short with the bat.
"Twenty-odd runs more would have been ideal for us, but we can be proud of the boys for what they did out there," he said.
Leus du Plooy anchored the Joburg chase [Sportzpics/CSA/SA20]
The Super Kings jumped to fourth place with the win [Sportzpics/CSA/SA20]
"We wanted to be around 140 or 150 on a wicket like that to give yourselves a really good crack at defending it.
"We can sweep this one away and start fresh tomorrow. It's about developing plans in our minds and coming out and backing those plans in the middle."
Phangiso, meanwhile, spoke of the toll his citing earlier in the week has taken.
Phangiso's action is being assessed after the report, which came from match officials during Joburg's game against Pretoria Capitals on Tuesday (January 17). The review panel has seven days to make a judgement.
"This was one of the toughest games I've had to play, but with the support of my family, friends and fans I came through it," he said.
"This is one of the best peroformances I've put in for a long time, under the circumstances."
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