SA 20: Pretoria Capitals dump MI Cape Town in a last ball thriller; become first team to qualify for Semis
Betway SA 20 League: High-flying Pretoria Capitals continue to dominate the inaugural SA20 2023 tournament with a thrilling last-ball victory over MI Cape Town, in the 26th match held on Saturday.
Pretoria Capital become first team to qualify for Semis
MI Cape Town were bowled out for just 159 runs while batting first with Capitals’ pacers proving too strong.Thereafter, Rilee Rossouw’s quickfire knock of 40 runs and Senuran Muthusamy’s vigilant 25 runs proved enough for the Capitals to register their sixth win from the opening eight group-stage games.
The Capitals became the first team to reach the playoffs this season, while the bottom-placed MI Cape Town got eliminated from the top-four race with just one game in hand.
With a game still in hand, Pretoria Capitals became the first team to seal their semis spot in the inaugural SA20 courtesy a thrilling one-wicket last-ball win against MI Cape Town at Centurion on Saturday.
SA 20: Pretoria Capitals VS MI Cape Town Summary
Brief Scores: MI Cape Town 159 all out in 19.4 overs (Rassie van der Dussen 51; Jimmy Neesham 2-26, Anrich Nortje 2-37) lost to Pretoria Capitals 160/9 in 20 overs (Rilee Rossouw 40, Kusal Mendis 39; Sam Curran 3-25) by 1 wicket
Pretoria Capitals won the toss and elected to field and MI Cape Town scored 159 on a slow, low pitch which was difficult for the batters to get going on.
Rassie van der Dussen 51 top scored and Anrich Nortje, Jimmy Neesham and Eathan Bosch all took two wickets apiece.
In the run chase, Pretoria Capitals’ Wayne Parnell hobbled the Capitals’ over the line, off the last ball of the match, having been injured early in the field. Pretoria Capitals won by 1 wicket, effectively dumping MI Cape Town out of the tournament.
Kusal Mendis 39 and Rilee Rossouw 40 top scored for the Capitals and Sam Curran was the hero with the ball for MI Cape Town.
MI Cape Town out of Semi Final race in SA 20
This will hurt the MI Cape Town. They surely had the best team the competition but it hasn’t been their year so far. As Rashid mentioned they will look to come out all guns blazing in the next season.
They still mathematically stands a chance of qualifying for the final four but that will require several permutations and combinations.
Also read: SA20: Points table of South Africa T20 League 2023
Thank you for reading.
