SA20 2023: Twitter reacts as Pretoria Capitals pour more misery on bottom-placed MI Cape Town

MI Cape Town was eliminated from the Playoffs race after they suffered their sixth defeat from the opening nine games in SA20 2023.

By Sumeet Kavthale

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Pretoria Capitals Team
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Pretoria Capitals Team (Photo Source: Twitter/PC)

High-flying Pretoria Capitals continue to dominate the inaugural SA20 2023 tournament with a thrilling last-ball victory over MI Cape Town, in the 26th match held on Saturday. MI Cape Town were bowled out for just 159 runs while batting first with Capitals' pacers proving too strong.

Thereafter, Rilee Rossouw's quickfire knock of 40 runs and Senuran Muthusamy's vigilant 25 runs proved enough for the Capitals to register their sixth win from the opening eight group-stage games. The Capitals became the first team to reach the playoffs this season, while the bottom-placed MI Cape Town got eliminated from the top-four race with just one game in hand.

Wayne Parnell won the toss and invited Cape Town to bat first at the SuperSport Park in Centurion. In an unusual move, Rassie van der Dussen opened innings alongside Wesley Marshall, with the latter playing his first SA20 game. Parnell dismissed Marshall in the fourth over and MI Cape Town struggled to contain early damage. 

In-form speedster, Anrich Nortje, took early valuable wickets of Dewald Brewis and Tim David to add more pressure on MI Cape Town. But van der Dussen kept the scoreboard moving with an admirable fifty. Young South African pacer, Ethan Bosch, bowled out van der Dussen in the 12th over and MI Cape Town's innings eventually collapsed on just 159 runs in 19.4 overs. Rassie top-scored with 51 runs off just 29 deliveries with four boundaries and four maximums while James Neesham, Bosch, and Nortje took two wickets each for the Capitals.

Kusal Mendis gave the Capitals a quick start with three boundaries in innings' first over. Mendis along with Phil Salt pulled off a quick 50-run partnership for the opening wicket, which proved crucial at the end. MI Cape Town made an instant comeback with Sam Curran dismissing both Mendis and Salt in the sixth over. Mendis scored 39 runs off 25 balls, while Salt added just nine runs to the opening partnership. 

Things got worse for the Capitals with Rashid Khan dismissing Theunis de Bruyn just two deliveries after Mendis' departure and the Capitals were struggling at 54/3, after seven overs. But Rilee Rossouw's blitzkrieg changed the momentum to put Capitals back in the driving seat.

Marco Jansen dragged the game to the last over by scalping two wickets in the 18th over. But Muthusamy held his crease, which propelled the Capital's win in the last over. He got caught out when Capitals needed two runs from last three balls. But Joshua Little smashed two runs on innings's last ball to guide his team to a one-wicket win. Meanwhile, some fans shared their views on the match over the social media.

Here is how Twitter is reacting to Pretoria Capitals' win over MI Cape Town:

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SA20 2024Pretoria CapitalsMI Cape TownRassie van der DussenRilee Rossouw