After finishing with the wooden spoon for the first two seasons, MI Cape Town on Tuesday managed to enter their first SA20 final after defeating Paarl Royals by 39 runs in the first Qualifier of the tournament at St. George's Park in Gqeberha. (Highlights | More Cricket News)
It was a collective effort from the MICT side as they first set a 200-run target without anyone scoring a half-century and then bowled out the Royals for 160 with four different bowlers taking a couple of wickets each.
The match was also special for MICT captain Rashid Khan who surpassed West Indian legend Dwayne Bravo to become the most successful bowler in T20 cricket with 632 scalps.
Earlier, Paarl Royals had won the toss and opted to field first.
Playing XIs
Paarl Royals: Lhuan-dre Pretorius, Mitchell Owen, Rubin Hermann, Andile Phehlukwayo, David Miller(c), Dinesh Karthik(w), Dayyaan Galiem, Eshan Malinga, Bjorn Fortuin, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Kwena Maphaka
MI Cape Town: Ryan Rickelton(w), Rassie van der Dussen, Reeza Hendricks, Sediqullah Atal, Dewald Brevis, Delano Potgieter, George Linde, Corbin Bosch, Rashid Khan(c), Kagiso Rabada, Trent Boult
It was a good toss to lose for MICT as both their openers combined for an 87-run first-wicket partnership. However, both Ryan Rickelton (44) and Rassie van der Dussen (40) were out in successive overs in the middle of the innings. In fact, Dunith Wellalage (2/23) who dismissed van der Dussen, also got the wicket of Sediqullah Atal for a Duck just two balls later.
The Royals were sensing a comeback but George Linde scored some quick runs to keep the Cape Town side going. After Linde (26) was dismissed by Bjorn Fortuin, Dewald Brevis (44*) and Delano Potgieter (32*) combined to plunder 74 unbeaten runs in last five overs to take MICT to 199/4 in 20 overs.
The Royals chase was off to a stunning start as Lhuan-dre Pretorius (15) and Mitch Owen (7) smashed Trent Boult (2/38) for 21 runs in the opening over of the chase. However, after the powerful take-off, the chase went nowhere and crashed soon after.
Led by Kagiso Rabada (2/18), the MICT bowlers kept taking wickets and none of the Royals batters barring their skipper David Miller could get runs at a good rate to keep the team in the contest. Once Miller(45) was dismissed in the 14th over, the Royals hopes nosedived. Dinesh Karthik (31) did play a few shots but his slow start had pushed the required run rate to unmanageable levels.
Rabada, Boult, Corbin Bosch and Rashid all chipped in with a couple of wickets to bowl out Paarl Royals for 160 in 19.4 overs.
The Royals will now face the winner of the Eliminator between defending champions Sunrisers Eastern Cape and Joburg Super Kings to determine the second qualifier to the final.
