Gqeberha (South Africa): MI Cape Town got their SA20 Season 3 off to a perfect start with a commanding 97-run victory over defending champions Sunrisers Eastern Cape in the competition opener at a sold-out St George’s Park.
The Orange Army had come out in their thousands to welcome home the back-to-back champions, but went back home disappointed as MICT delivered an inspired performance.
It was the first time that MICT had beaten the Sunrisers Eastern Cape in five attempts since the inception of SA20.
Robin Peterson’s MICT outfit dominated all facets on the night with Dewald Brevis smashing 57 off just 29 balls to lift the visitors to 174/7 before Delano Potgieter and Trent Boult combined to dismiss the Sunrisers for just 77.
Potgieter claimed the dreamlike career-best figures of 5-10, but it was the New Zealand international Boult (2/16) that set the tone with a superb new-ball spell that yielded a double-wicket maiden third over.
The 35-year-old showed his world class ability to swing the new ball back into the right-hander, which accounted for Sunrisers’ England Test opener Zak Crawley.
And it was only fitting that Brevis played a major role in the victory with the Rising Star delivering on his potential that was first seen in the competition opener at Newlands two seasons ago.
The 21-year-old was in rousing form striking the ball cleanly from the outset. His first task was to take on the dual spin of Simon Harmer and Liam Dawson before launching successive straight sixes off seamer Beyers Swanepoel.
Although MICT lost Brevis heading into the final five overs, the momentum was maintained by Potgieter (25 not out, 12 balls) and George Linde (23 not out, 17 balls) with an unbroken 41-run partnership.
The pair took 24 runs off Sunrisers’ Marco Jansen’s final over which swung the momentum in MICT’s favour which they never relinquished for the remainder of the evening.
MICT will hope to maintain their winning momentum when they face Joburg Super Kings at the Wanderers on Saturday, while Sunrisers will look to bounce back against Paarl Royals at Boland Park.
–IANS
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