MI Cape Town’s fringe demolishes Capitals
MI Cape Town: 201/5
Sediqullah Atal 74; James Neesham 3/32
Pretoria Capitals: 106 all out
James Neesham 32; Thomas Kaber 3/27
MICT beat PC by 95 runs
An unfamiliar looking MI Cape Town dominated Pretoria Capitals at the picturesque Newlands Stadium on Sunday afternoon, handing the Highveld team a hevy defeat to finish the SA20 round robin stage on a high ahead of their all-important play-offs later this week.
With MICT having qualified early for the play-offs, coach Robin Peterson made seven changes to his usual playing XI, resting experienced heads, including Kagiso Rabada and Rassie van der Dussen, while awarding opportunities to younger players, including former South Africa Under-19 fast bowler Tristan Luus.
At the top of the order, Peterson unleashed 23-year-old Afghanistan international, left-handed batter Sediqullah Atal, to open the batting alongside Connor Esterhuizen, replacing the explosive opening pair of Van der Dussen and Ryan Rickelton.
The youngsters put together an impressive 133-run stand, clearing the long-off and long-on boundaries with traditional cricket strokes, while also showing flair and creativity with reverse switch shots as they provided a solid foundation for the middle order.
Atal (74, 4x4, 6x6) was the first wicket in the 13th over, while Esterhuizen (69, 6x4, 3x6) lost his wicket in the 19th. A cameo from Delano Potgieter (26, 3x4, 1x6) saw the hosts maintain a 10-runs-per-over rate, as they posted a mammoth 201.
While Peterson made changes to the playing XI, he kept the same tactics in that Esterhuizen and Atal are a left-hand-right-hand combination, the same as Van der Dussen and Rickelton, which has been hugely successful throughout the tournament.
“We have some really good players who have fulfilled those roles nicely. It’s always nice when it works and long may that continue heading into the backend,” said stand-in captain Colin Ingram following the victory.
“It opens up both sides of the wicket. A lot of the grounds around the country have one small side so being able to take advantage of that has been a great strength of the team.”
With the ball, MICT had the best of starts with off-spinner Dane Piedt striking with the first ball of the innings, removing Will Jacks with a doosra. Bowling around the wicket to the right-handed Jacks, Piedt’s delivery induced the outside edge with wicketkeeper Chris Benjamin taking a clean catch to hand the hosts their first scalp.
Having had a poor start to the run chase, the Capitals could not recover as they lost four more wickets inside the first powerplay including three wickets in one George Linde over. Four top-six batters in the Capitals side recorded single-digit scores including two ducks from Jacks and Marques Ackerman.
Despite James Neesham’s 24-ball 32, a knock which included three sixes and one four, there was no denying the inevitable as spinners Piedt (3/28), Thomas Kaber (3/27) and Linde (2/11) bowled the visitors out for 106 runs.
The victory marked MI Cape Town’s seventh in the ongoing tournament as they took the top spot in the standings. Ingram lauded the effort of the team this season and expressed their enthusiasm for the first qualifier against Paarl Royals in Gqeberha on Tuesday.
“We’ve had some terrific performers out there,” said Ingram.
“There are guys who’re at the top of the run-scoring list, there have been some fantastic catches, bowlers have been incredible and often we’ve had them three down early. We’ve built a good unit. Looking forward to the backend of this tournament.”