Pretoria Capitals thrash MI Cape Town by 85 runs in SA20

Pretoria Capitals crushed MI Cape Town by 85 runs to secure their first SA20 win with a bonus point, while David Miller’s unbeaten 71 powered Paarl Royals to a five-wicket victory over Sunrisers Eastern Cape in Gqeberha

Cape Town: Pretoria Capitals handed a huge 85-run defeat to MI Cape Town to record their first win in the competition with a bonus point, while the David Miller-led Paarl Royals beat Sunrisers Eastern Cape by five wickets in their SA20 contest.

The pair of Dewald Brevis (36 not out off 13 balls; 1 four, 4 sixes) and Sherfane Rutherford (47 not out off 15 balls; 6 sixes) hit six sixes in a row to power Pretoria Capitals to a formidable 220 for five, putting on 86 runs unbeaten for the sixth wicket from just 27 balls. As many as 72 runs came off the last three overs for the Capitals.

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In reply, MI Cape Town were bowled out for 135 in 14.2 overs with Rutherford returning 3-0-24-4 and South Africa spinner Keshav Maharaj producing a fine spell of 4-0-28-3. Tymal Mills, Lizaad Williams and Bryce Parsons claimed one wicket each for the winning side, for whom Wihan Lubbe smacked a 36-ball 60 with seven fours and two sixes earlier in the innings.

Shai Hope also chipped in with the bat, scoring 45 off 30 balls with three fours and two sixes. South Africa and MI Cape Town pacer Kagiso Rabada was expensive in his comeback game after a long injury layoff, giving away 48 runs for two wickets in his four overs.

For MI Cape Town, each of their top four batters — Rassie van der Dussen (28), Ryan Rickelton (33), Reeza Hendricks (18) and Nicholas Pooran (25 off 6 balls; 4 sixes) — got starts but failed to convert.

In the other match, skipper David Miller struck a 38-ball 71 not out as Paarl Royals won by five wickets with two balls to spare against two-time winners Sunrisers Eastern Cape.

Batting first at their home ground in Gqeberha, Sunrisers Eastern Cape were bowled out for 149 in 20 overs with Nqobani Mokoena (4/34) and Ottneil Baartman (3/36) producing fine spells. Quinton de Kock was dismissed for seven but Jordan Hermann (47) fought a lone battle for the home side, with Jonny Bairstow (33) also making a useful contribution at the top.

Both Marco Jansen (2/25) and Anrich Nortje (2/21) struck twice early on as Paarl Royals slipped to 35 for four in their chase after seven overs. But Miller counter-attacked with a stroke-filled innings, hitting four fours and five sixes. He was well supported by Keagan Lion-Cachet (45 off 40 balls; 6 fours) as the duo put on 114 runs for the fifth wicket to take their side over the line.