Cape Town, January 24: Pretoria Capitals stretched the lead at the top of SA20 points table after claiming a 52-run victory over second-placed MI Cape Town at the Newlands in Cape Town on Monday (January 23).
After Will Jacks' quickfire fifty powered Capitals to 182 for 8 in their allotted 20 overs, Wayne Parnell and Anrich Nortje combined to bowl out MI Cape Town for 130 in 18.1 overs.
Being sent in to bat, the Capitals flew out the blocks when openers Jacks (62 off 27 balls) and Kusal Mendis (29 off 19 balls) smashed their way to an 88-run partnership after seven overs.
The innings hit a speed bump when Rashid Khan and Odean Smith grabbed three wickets between each other in 17 balls with the duo removing Mendis, Jacks and Rilee Rossouw. Jofra Archer also got his first of the night with the dismissal of Senuran Muthusamy.
SA20 2023 Points Table | Results & Schedule
Theunis de Bruyn (36 off 26 balls) stabilised the innings before some lusty blows by James Neesham (22* off 18 balls) at the back end of the innings guided the Pretoria-side to 182/8.
Rashid, who ended with figures of 3 for 16, crossed the milestone for 500 wickets in T20 cricket overall. Smith (2/27) and Archer (3/37) were also among the wickets for MI Cape Town.
MI Cape Town's chase got off to a rocky start when they lost Ryan Rickelton (11 off 11 balls) and Sam Curran (22 off 18 balls) by the eighth over.
Dewald Brevis (46 off 30 balls) and Rassie van der Dussen (24 off 25 balls) got the innings back on track with a 47-run partnership but when the former fell to Nortje the Capitals were well on top.
Some 😄 faces and 🫂 as we head into the break 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒚 🆙 #MICTvPC #RoarSaamMore #SA20 pic.twitter.com/8wTW6ce9we
— Pretoria Capitals (@PretoriaCapsSA) January 23, 2023
That dismissal proved pivotal as the MI Cape Town innings snowballed, losing their remaining seven wickets for just 29 runs.
Pretoria Capitals captain Parnell claimed figures of 3/14 as he proved how lethal he can be at the death, while Nortje ended with figures of 3/22. Adil Rashid too chipped in with two wickets for the Capitals.