SA20 – MI Cape Town let Joburg Super Kings take charge in bonus point win

MI Cape Town let the Joburg Super Kings bat first at the Wanderers on Monday evening and paid the price as they conceded a hefty 189/6 and then found chasing that way too difficult as they subsided to 113 all out in their SA20 match.

It looked an inspired decision by captain Rashid Khan when both Joburg openers were dismissed for ducks. The in-form Faf du Plessis fell to the first ball of the match when he played way too early at a George Linde short delivery that stuck in the pitch, Rashid himself taking a fine diving catch at extra cover. Reeza Hendricks then picked out deep backward square-leg off Sam Curran at the end of the second over.

Read more: Faf sends a message of his own as he leads JSK into the SA20 semifinals

Left-arm seamer Curran picked up another wicket when he dismissed Sibonelo Makhanya (4) and reduced the Super Kings to 34/3.

But Leus du Plooy had come in second ball of the innings after Du Plessis’ dismissal and he never allowed the intensity or run-rate to drop. And with Matthew Wade coming in and smacking 40 off just 18 balls with busy, bristling energy, MI Cape Town let the advantage slip.

The pair added 46 off 24 deliveries for the fourth wicket and Du Plooy then shared useful stands with Donovan Ferreira (19), Kyle Simmonds (13) and Romario Shepherd (15*), who hit two sixes in the final over bowled by Jofra Archer.

Du Plooy batted through to score 81 not out off 48 balls, a great example of pacing an innings: He went hard in the powerplay, but then made sure he took his innings deep and ensured the home team posted a sizeable total.

Apart from Curran (3-1-26-2), Cape Town’s much-vaunted attack were again lacklustre; in spin-friendly conditions, Rashid was especially disappointing as he conceded 42 runs in his four overs and went wicketless.

Joburg Super Kings then followed up their good batting effort with tight bowling. Wesley Marshall (4) was trapped lbw by mystery spinner Maheesh Theekshana in the third over, but Rassie van der Dussen (20 off 15) and Grant Roelofsen (21 off 24) added 33 for the second wicket.

Cluster of wickets

But there were way too many dot balls and, with the required run-rate climbing to over 11 after seven overs, it was almost inevitable that a cluster of wickets would fall.

Left-arm spinner Kyle Simmonds (3-0-23-3) removed both Van der Dussen and Roelofsen in the eighth over, Gerald Coetzee (3.5-0-27-3) added three more wickets to his tally and Theekshana (4-0-16-2) claimed a second as MI Cape Town were bowled out in the 18^th over. Lizaad Williams conceded just 11 runs in three overs and took a wicket.

Dewald Brevis (27 off 26) was last man out having come in at 48/2 and just watched wickets tumble at the other end.

The bonus point win lifts Joburg Super Kings on to 27 points, tied with leaders Pretoria Capitals, who have a better nett run-rate and play their last game tomorrow against Paarl Royals at Centurion.

Read more: Joburg Super Kings batting woes lead to MI Cape Town thrashing in SA20