MI Cape Town remain winless but are still hopeful of playoff berth in SA20

MI Cape Town have had a horrid start to the defence of their SA2o campaign.

Ryan Rickelton, the all-time leading run scorer in the tournament’s history, has, as usual, been in tremendous form for the Cape Town side, but his side is yet to register a victory.

MI boast a star-studded side which includes Kagiso Rabada, Corbin Bosch, Reeza Hendricks, Rassie van der Dussen, George Linde, and captained by Rashid Khan — all players who have represented their national teams in the past year.

Rickelton is top of the run-scoring charts again this year, with 199 runs in four knocks — although the bulk of those came in one innings when he slapped 113 runs off 63 deliveries in the opening match of the tournament against Durban’s Super Giants, a match they lost by 15 runs.

Despite the awful start, MI Cape Town remain hopeful of making the knockouts and defending their title.

“There’s still a long competition ahead,” Bosch said after their seven-wicket loss to Paarl at Newlands on Sunday, in which MI Cape Town were bowled out for 88. “There’s still five games and five games for us to win.

“We’re disappointed, but I do think we have the experience and magnificent players in our squad to turn this around.

“We still have a competition to win.”

Royals rumbling

Their provincial neighbours, Paarl Royals, have, meanwhile, come back from a humiliating opening game defeat – where they were bowled out for a tournament low score of 47 – to now occupy second place.

They’ve won three matches on the trot since. This includes two consecutive victories over MI Cape Town.

“The reality is everyone thinks we’re underdogs,” Paarl Royals captain David Miller said after their seven-wicket victory over their neighbours on Sunday.

“Winning against Sunrisers [Eastern Cape] and then going back-to-back against MI… I said to the guys, we kind of beat a world XI.

“It’s just about understanding and knowing that we can compete, but we have to be on it.”

Paarl’s resurgence has been led by their bowling attack. Youngster Nqobani Mokoena has been a revelation for the side in pink, having picked up seven wickets in the tournament so far.

The 19-year-old has leaned on the experience of Proteas pacer Ottneil Baartman, who heads the overall wicket-taking standings with 11.

Baartman was recently left out of South Africa’s T20 World Cup squad selection, but will be looking to continue his shining form to ensure his name is the first mentioned should injury befall one of the six pacers SA has selected for next month’s tournament.

Zimbabwean international Sikandar Raza, who joined the Paarl side only in the past two matches, has made an immediate impact. Raza, incredibly, is already up to seven scalps, having picked up four wickets for only 13 runs on Sunday.

Thrilling action

In the fourth iteration of the SA20, it finally saw its first match go all the way to a Super Over.

Matching their names, it was Durban’s Super Giants and Joburg Super Kings who took the match to the 41st and 42nd over of the match.

A see-sawing clash saw Durban wrestle their way to 205 runs – the same score the Joburg side had set earlier in the day at Wanderers – with eight wickets down.

All the battle to reach the total was undone in the Super Over when they could set only five runs in the Super Over with English quick Richard Gleeson bowling a superb six-ball spell.

The Super Kings chased the score down comfortably in three deliveries, thanks to two fours by swashbuckling southpaw Rilee Rossouw.

It was the Joburg Super Kings’ third successive victory, with their most recent match against the Sunrisers Eastern Cape rained out. It means the side from Johannesburg are at the top of the table at this stage – the only undefeated side in the competition. DM