With two games under the belt already Cape Town finally gets to play their first game at Newlands. It's the big Western Cape derby against neighbours Paarl and Rashid Khan's side will be keen to give home fans a treat.
2025 SA20 – Game 6
MI Cape Town v Paarl Royals
Monday 13 January 2025 – 17:30
Newlands, Cape Town
This big Cape derby gets the SA20 action underway for the week as MI Cape Town host the Paarl Royals at Newlands in what should be an explosive affair.
To Win Match
MI Cape Town 62/100 | Tie 25/1 | Paarl Royals 27/20
With two games under the belt already Cape Town finally gets to play their first game at Newlands. It’s the big Western Cape derby against neighbours Paarl and Rashid Khan’s side will be keen to give home fans a treat.
Cape Town was excellent in their opening win against Sunrisers EC, and they will feel like they were unlucky to lose to Joburg on Saturday after they ended on the wrong side of a Duckworth Lewis calculation. On a tricky wicket and having lost in rainy conditions the pre-tournament favourites will have found plenty of positives from their showing at the Wanderers.
Delano Potgieter is a man in form. Not much was said about him in the build-up to the tournament, but he bagged five for ten in three overs in the opening game, while with the bat he has scored 69 runs from 34 balls without yet being dismissed.
Kagiso Rabada missed the opening game but bowled superbly in his spell at the Wanderers. He generated both swing and seam and at time appeared to leave veteran England batsman Jonny Bairstow completely flummoxed. He finished with figures of two for 10 from 2.3 overs.
Dewald Brevis is a man playing with a degree of swagger now. He put in a great performance with the bat in the tournament opener to top score with 57 from 29 balls. And while he was less successful at the Wanderers where the conditions were difficult, he nevertheless pulled off what may well be the catch of the tournament to dismiss Faf du Plessis. Catching the ball in bounds, he tossed it skywards, fell over the boundary, recovered and dived back into the field of play to complete the dismissal.
Dewald Brevis! You absolute beauty! What a catch that is‼️‼️ #BetwaySA20 #JSKvMICT #WelcomeToIncredible pic.twitter.com/SbAjbrRNHn
— Betway SA20 (@SA20_League) January 11, 2025
Ryan Rickelton has yet to feature for MI Cape Town as he recovers from the hamstring strain that he picked up during the second Test against Pakistan. He was SA20’s leading run-scorer in 2024 and could well be back in the mix at Newlands – last time he batted here it was to score a double-ton in the Test win over Pakistan.
South Africa’s T20 player of 2024, Reeza Hendricks has yet to show his qualities in SA20 2025. You can’t help but think he will come good soon.
The tournament outsiders looked fantastic on Saturday as they raced to a nine-wicket win over defending champions Sunrisers Eastern Cape.
Paarl are not a team stacked with mega-stars; they have just a handful of big names, but critically they are evergreen players who never seem to have slumps in form. Joe Root, Dinesh Karthik and David Miller are their big names. Root looked great in the opener as he stroked a fluent, undefeated 62 runs from 44 balls.
The key to Paarl’s success will be how their younger stars step up. It worked a charm for them on Saturday as 18-year-old youngster Lhuan-dre Pretorius introduced himself as the future of South African cricket with a knock of 97 from 51 balls.
Pretorius aside, Paarl boast plenty of other fantastic young cricketers, some of whom, like Kwena Mphaka and Nqaba Peter, have already made their mark at national level.
Keep an eye out for Mujeeb Ur Rahman, another Afghan bowler who is an expert in the T20 format. A spinner who enjoys opening the bowling, Ur Rahman grabbed a couple of wickets against Eastern Cape. A similar bowler to compatriot Rashid Khan he can turn the ball both ways. Still just 23 years old he has already played in 245 T20 games and 49 T20I. With best figures of five for 15 at an average of 23.62 he is a force to be reckoned with.
Verdict: Cape Town 62/100
Playing at home, with Rickelton due back and looking to get their campaign back on track after the Duckworth Lewis loss on Saturday, MI Cape Town should be good enough to get this over the line.
