Cape Town — A blitzkrieg opening partnership between Will Jacks and Kusal Mendis set up a resounding 52-run victory for the Pretoria Capitals over MI Cape Town at Newlands on Monday evening.
Jacks (62 off 27 balls) and Mendis (29 off 19 balls) blasted 88 runs for the first wicket in just seven entertaining overs. They were particularly destructive against the left-arm spin of George Linde (0/35) and the pace of Kagiso Rabada (0/49).
Jacks was the aggressor as he belted five boundaries and further five sixes into the Newlands crowd.
MI Cape Town turned to their captain Rashid Khan (3/16) to stem the tide with the skipper removing Mendis and Rilee Rossouw (1) before Jofra Archer (3/37) ran the through the Capitals middle order to restrict the visitors to 182/8.
The Capitals were certainly set up for a larger total but Rashid delivered arguably the spell of the tournament by adding Clyde Fortuin to his wicket tally later on.
Theunis de Bruyn (36) and James Neesham (22 not out) ensured the Capitals innings did not fall away altogether.
The MI Cape Town run chase was always going to dependent on the way their openers started.
Dewald Brevis tried his utmost best with 46 off 30 balls, but did not have the support of the remainder of the batting unit offered feeble support.
Sam Curran (24) and Rassie van der Dussen (25) made worthy contributions, but MI Cape Town lacked a major innings to sustain the run chase.
This was primarily due to excellent bowling from Pretoria Capitals captain Wayne Parnell (3/14), Anrich Nortje (3/22) and Adil Rashid (2/37).
The complete bowling performance silenced the Newlands faithful as MI Cape Town were bundled out for 130 in just 18.1 overs.
The victory cemented the Capitals' position at the top of the Betway SA20 table.
IOL Sport