MI At a sold-out Wanderers Stadium on Saturday night, Cape Town’s captain, Kagiso Rabada, led his team to their first SA20 championship with an outstanding performance with the ball.
In reaction to MI Cape Town’s 181/8, the second-highest score in a SA20 Final, Rabada’s effort was appropriate for the momentous occasion.
The fast bowler claimed 4/25 to defeat the Sunrisers Eastern Cape for just 105.
At a crucial moment to turn the tide of the match in MI Cape Town’s favour, Rabada also claimed a spectacular diving catch at point that sent Sunrisers captain Aiden Markram back to the dugout.
The MI Cape Town spin twins Rashid Khan (1/19) and George Linde (2/20) provided the quick bowler with good support. MI Cape Town made their intentions clear right away after winning the toss and choosing to bat, as Ryan Rickelton sped to 33 off 15 balls (1×4, 4×6) to get his team to 51 in the first five overs.
Deceived by a slower ball from Craig Overton, Rickelton fell immediately after, and Reeza Hendricks (0 off 2 balls) followed shortly after. MI Cape Town ended the Powerplay with 52/2, the highest total Sunrisers Eastern Cape have given up at the six-over point in the competition. With 1012 runs in all three divisions, Rickelton also surpassed Heinrich Klaasen of the Durban Super Giants as the most prolific run scorer in SA20 history.
Rassie van der Dussen (23 off 25 balls), who was only four runs away from surpassing the competition’s top run scorer Lhuan-dre Pretorius, was another wicket taken by Sunrisers as they continued to chip away.
A few of middle-order partnerships helped MI Cape Town restore their composure. Dewald Brevis (38 off 18 balls) and Connor Esterhuizen (39 off 26 balls) scored 50 runs off just 30 balls, which was crucial in helping Robin Peterson’s squad reach a winning total.
In order to have a chance, Sunrisers Eastern Cape needed a solid start. However, their batting problems persisted during the Powerplay, as both David Bedingham and Jordan Hermann returned to the dugout with just eight runs scored.
With a 57-run partnership for the third wicket, Abell and Tony de Zorzi fought valiantly to salvage the innings. However, they lost to Linde and Rashid within three runs of one another, respectively, leaving Sunrisers in a vulnerable position at 68/4. Additionally, Sunrisers’ era as two-time SA20 champions was coming to an end as Markram followed shortly after, with Rabada giving MI Cape Town the victory.
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