It was a pure surprise when the destructive batter went unsold in the IPL 2026 auction. In the last season, he played a few matches for Mumbai Indians and did pretty well. But, the experienced opener found no buyer in the IPL 2026 auction.
South Africa is currently hosting matches for the domestic T20 league, SA20. On January 5th, Sunrisers Eastern Cape faced Pretoria Capitals in the tournament, which the latter won by 10 wickets. Jonny Bairstow and Quinton de Kock played explosive innings for the Sunrisers in this match. Bairstow wasn’t bought by any franchise in last month’s IPL mini-auction, going unsold.
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It is Jonny Bairstow whome we are talking about
Batting first, Pretoria Capitals set a target of 177 runs for Sunrisers Eastern Cape. Sunrisers achieved this target in 14.2 overs (86 balls) with 10 wickets in hand. Quinton de Kock and Jonny Bairstow played crucial roles in this run chase. De Kock scored an unbeaten 79 off 41 balls, hitting five fours and six sixes. Bairstow also played a brilliant innings.
England’s powerful Jonny Bairstow played a blistering innings of 85 runs off 45 balls. He hit eight fours and six sixes during this innings, achieving a strike rate of 188.89. Thanks to this innings by de Kock and Bairstow, the Sunrisers achieved the huge target of 177 runs with relative ease. This is the third victory for the SEC this season.
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In the points table for the ongoing SA20 season, the Tristan Stubbs-led Sunrisers Eastern Cape are currently at the top of the points table with three wins from five matches and 17 points. Pretoria Capitals are fifth with one win and three losses from five matches. Joburg Super Kings are second, having won three of their four matches so far and currently have 15 points.