Jozi Stars win the Mzanzi Super League

Dane Vilas admitted that his team’s ability to gel as a group was one of the biggest factors in Jozi Stars winning the inaugural Mzansi Super League title.

The Johannesburg set-up drew the curtain on South Africa’s blockbuster new Twenty20 competition by thumping the Cape Town Blitz by eight wickets in the final at PPC Newlands.

Led by the outstanding fast bowling trio of Kagiso Rabada (1/16), Duanne Olivier (2/32) and Man of the Match Beuran Hendricks (2/21), the visitors stunned the home batting line-up by restricting them to a sub-par 113/7 on a sluggish pitch in Cape Town.

Stars’ Rassie van der Dussen, the leading run-scorer in the competition, then struck an unbeaten 59 (54 balls, 8 fours, 1 six) to fittingly lead his side to victory with 15 deliveries to spare.

It concluded a wonderful campaign for the Stars, and captain Vilas lauded the unity and understanding that had developed within their squad during the month-long competition, saying it played a vital role in their success.

“I don’t think I could have asked anything more from my team,” he admitted.

“They turned it on in the final when it mattered most and won us the title. I have to give credit to the whole team in general, the boys were brilliant.

“It’s difficult in a tournament like this to find a good squad and guys who sort of enjoy each other’s company and really want to be part of something special, but with us, everybody from the start wanted that.

“Even our bus driver was an incredible inspiration for us. We really enjoyed playing together and I think that’s what made our team.”

Vilas hailed the inaugural season as a massive success, saying he only expected the MSL T20 to get bigger and better in the years ahead.

Van der Dussen said, “We had such a well-rounded batting line up and in terms of our bowling, I mean we have the best bowler in the world in KG [Kagiso Rabada] and another two top-class pacers [Olivier and Hendricks] to back him up.

“On top of that there was a world-class spinner in Simon [Harmer], so just a superb team and I think that’s why we came out on top.”

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