Rickel-ton stars in MI Cape Town’s commanding victory
MI Cape Town 234 for 3 (Rickelton 113*, van der Dussen 65, Worrall 2-37) defeated Joburg Super Kings 198 for 5 (Forrester 80*, Vince 77, Linde 2-30, Rabada 2-34) by 36 runs. After enduring five consecutive losses, MI Cape Town secured their second consecutive win over Joburg Super Kings, claiming victory by 36 runs. They missed out on a bonus point, however, despite amassing 234 for 3. Batting first in Johannesburg, MI Cape Town benefitted from Ryan Rickelton’s unbeaten 113 off 60 deliveries. This marked Rickelton’s second century of the season; no player has achieved more than one century across four seasons of the SA20. Rassie van der Dussen also contributed significantly with 65 runs off 32 balls, partnering with Rickelton for a 129-run stand for the first wicket within 10.2 overs.
Joburg Super Kings needed to achieve the highest chase in SA20 history. Their task became more daunting when Faf du Plessis was unable to bat, having injured his finger in the field. Although James Vince and Dian Forrester fought valiantly with their respective half-centuries, their efforts fell short.
Donovan Ferreira flipped the coin for Joburg Super Kings•SA20Van der Dussen, Rickelton’s explosive startEarlier that day, du Plessis lost his sixth toss out of seven matches. He brought Donovan Ferreira along to assist with the coin toss. While it didn’t alter du Plessis’ fortune, JSK got the opportunity they desired when MICT chose to bat first. By the time du Plessis needed to leave the field midway through MICT’s innings, Ferreira filled in for him once again.
The JSK bowlers had an unfortunate start. Daniel Worrall began with a wide down the leg side that flowed to the boundary. He followed up with two more wides in the over, conceding a total of 20 runs. After that rocky beginning, Van der Dussen and Rickelton didn’t look back. They matched each other’s scoring rate, propelling the team past 50 in just 3.3 overs. Even post-powerplay, there was no relief for the JSK bowlers; van der Dussen and Rickelton blasted four sixes in the next two overs. One of van der Dussen’s sixes was caught at long-on by James Vince, but Vince’s foot was precariously close to the boundary cushion when he lobbed the ball up. He went outside before coming back in to complete the catch, leading to a TV umpire ruling in favor of the batter, much to Vince’s astonishment. In the following over, van der Dussen reached his fifty off 26 deliveries, while Rickelton took just two balls longer to accomplish the same.
Rickel-ton drives MICTWorrall briefly stemmed the scoring with the wickets of van der Dussen and Nicholas Pooran. From the 13th to the 17th overs, MICT could only muster 29 runs. Nandre Burger managed to have Rickelton caught at 87, but his celebration was short-lived as the TV umpire declared it a back-foot no-ball. Rickelton immediately showed his prowess by hitting Burger’s next three deliveries for 4, 4, and 6, with the six bringing him to his century off 54 balls. After that, JSK struggled to stem the tide, and the final three overs yielded 55 runs.
James Vince’s fiery 77 proved insufficient•SA20Vince and Forrester’s fifties go to wasteVince began the chase by striking Trent Boult for three boundaries in the opening over. However, he received minimal support from the other end. In du Plessis’ absence, Michael Pepper opened the innings but fell for just 2 runs. Matthew de Villiers and Wiaan Mulder also didn’t contribute much, leaving JSK at 35 for 3 within the first five overs. Vince, however, continued to attack, nearly single-handedly keeping JSK’s hopes alive. He hit at least one boundary in every over from the fourth to the eleventh, including consecutive sixes off Boult in the tenth. However, Linde caught him at short third for 77 off 43 balls. Forrester, who was on 16 off 13 at that point, then elevated his game and started finding the rope with consistency. JSK required eight runs in the last over to deny MICT a bonus point. Against Corbin Bosch, Forrester ran two on the first delivery, declined a single on the following ball, and on the third delivery, launched a six to achieve the necessary runs.
Published: 2026-01-10 20:32:00
Source: www.espncricinfo.com
