SA20 2023, MI Cape Town vs Joburg Super Kings, Match 7 - Talking Points and Who Said What?

MI Cape Town return to winnings ways with a seven-wicket win over Joburg Super Kings in the seventh match of the SA20 2023 at Cape Town on Saturday (January 14). The star South African pacer Kagiso Rabada returned to the squad and made an instant impact with figures of 2/12. Captain Rashid Khan also shone with two wickets after below-par performances in the opening two matches.

The Super Kings struggled to get going from the start and never looked confident. Leus du Plooy top-scored with 21 runs, while the likes of Faf du Plessis and Donavon Ferreira struggled as his side managed to score only 105/9 in 20 overs.

MI Cape Town openers Dewald Brevis and Ryan Rickelton started well with a 65-run partnership. Brevis scored 42 off 34 before getting caught out on Gerald Coetzee's delivery, while Rickelton scored 21. Later, Rassie van der Dussen remained unbeaten on 14 off 23 to complete the chase with 22 balls remaining. With this win, MI Cape Town jumped to the top of the points table, with nine points from the opening three matches. On the other hand, the Super Kings are at the fourth spot with four points.

Talking Points from CT vs JOH, SA20 Match 7:

Kagiso Rabada shines on his return:

The star South African pacer made a big impact on his return with two wickets while conceding just 12 runs from his four-over spell. With Jofra Archer and Olly Stone rested, Rabada led the bowling attack with fearsome spells to restrict the Super Kings to just 105/9. He bowled out Reeza Hendricks with a brilliant delivery to give MI the opening they needed, and then dismissed Coetzee in the 18th over.

Sam Curran's wait for maiden SA20 wicket continues:

The 24-year-old pace all-rounder endured another wicket-less evening but finished the game for MI Cape Town by scoring unbeaten 15 off nine balls. Curran, who won the Player of the Tournament at the T20 World Cup 2022 with 13 wickets, is yet to get his first wicket in the SA20 tournamen. He became the most expensive player in IPL auction history last month when Chennai Super Kings spent INR 18.5 crore for his signature. But he has failed to take a wicket in his last five overall outings.

Losing Captain, Faf du Plessis said:

T20 cricket is like a lottery, you can ride the momentum at times, two bad days, we will have to go back to Joburg and start over again. It could be a matter of confidence (on the struggling batting unit), you have 3 games from 4 days and it could be enough time to go back and work out (during the upcoming break). The pitch was slow and slightly worn out, their 3 spinners were certainly perfect for the conditions. We didn't have that luxury with our main spinner, Maheesh Theekshana, expected only later this week. We knew it (about his unavailability for 3 matches), would have been nice to win 2 on the road, but it's good to be going back home.

Winning Captain, Rashid Khan said:

Amazing game, the way we bowled, KG, Linde and Waqar - a good win for us. We have played together in a Test match for AFG, he (Waqar) has done well in the past and has the ability, he's ready to go and do well, happy for him. He had the control in the middle overs. Linde, the way he bowled in the batting PP was superb, he and KG set the platform for us. It's not easy to bowl 3 overs in the powerplay for a spinner, but he always wanted to do it for us. I think we have the best bowling unit, so many options and it makes a captain's task harder. We also have depth in the batting line-up, we saw it in the last game, it's just a matter of time before they step-up and take the responsibility. The crowd has been great, they've come out to support us in large numbers over three games, I hope  you come for the rest of the games as well.

Player of the Match, Kagiso Rabada said:

Good way to start, got early wickets, kept it as simple as possible and put them under pressure. The spinners kept getting wickets and made things easy for us. Lovely to play at Newlands, the crowd have been fantastic, almost every game has been a sell-out. I wish I could make bowling look as easy as Joff (Archer). Olly Stone was slightly unlucky to have missed out today.