MI Cape Town secured their passage to the SA20 play-offs as they beat Sunrisers Eastern Cape in resounding fashion at Newlands on Wednesday night, securing victory by ten wickets with 54 balls remaining.
Cape Town now has 26 points and cannot be caught by the teams behind them – with two games remaining, they are just two points behind league leaders Paarl Royals.
Wednesday’s game saw MICT skipper Rashid Khan win the toss and elect to field. SEC have struggled for opening stands all season and although Zak Crawley was dropped in favour of a first start for Tony De Zorzi, there was still no luck in terms of opening partnerships as De Zorzi departed for two when the score was on 13.
David Bedingham has found form, and he was once again the mainstay of the SEC innings as he scored 45 from as many balls. But he was one of just three SEC batsmen who was able to reach double-figures, with Aiden Markram (10 from 19) and Andile Simelane (21 from 22) the other two.
A score of just 107 was never going to be enough to defend, especially against an opening pair as in-form as Rassie van der Dussen and Ryan Rickelton. The MICT pair were completely untroubled as they raced to victory with Rickelton scoring 59 from 36 and Van der Dussen 48 off 30.
Speaking to SuperSport after the game victorious skipper Rashid Khan said: Fielding is very important especially in this format. Today, before the game, we had the discussion to keep the continuity. I feel like the effort you put in fielding is very important. Fielding put us ahead in the game. Our ground fielding was amazing, and I think it plays a huge role.
“It was important to finish with the bonus point and in top two. The way they have been batting together for last five six games, the on openers, I feel it’s so good for the team and I hope they continue, and we keep things simple and have fun.
“We had a very tough couple of years as a team. We just talked about to let’s just have fun, have the basics right, put effort in field and forget about the last two years and I feel the way everyone stood up, took responsibility has been the difference. The crowd came in numbers and that gives us extra energy in the field. Thanks to everyone who came up to support us,” he said.
Meanwhile Aiden Markram added: “You got to give credit to MICT. They played really well, put us under pressure initially and we struggled to get away from that.
“It’s a day we want to forget and address it and move on from it quite quickly. You never want to have any excuses as a team. We should be able to put pressure on bowlers in better ways so those will be the discussions.
“The wicket was a little two paced, but it wasn’t as bad as the score we got… so definitely massive room for improvement and our last game on home will be an opportunity for us to get things right. It’s always nice to play there and hopefully we can put up a good show,” he said.
Stand and Deliver ❤️🔥#MICapeTown #OneFamily pic.twitter.com/DXsOMQYF67
— MI Cape Town (@MICapeTown) January 29, 2025
