• MI Cape Town make early SA20 statement

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    MI Cape Town got their SA20 season off to a perfect start with a 97-run victory over the Sunrisers Eastern Cape at a sold-out St George’s Park on Thursday.

    The Orange Army came out in their thousands to welcome home the back-to-back champions, but went home disappointed as MICT delivered an inspired performance.

    Coach Robin Peterson’s outfit dominated all facets on the night with Dewald Brevis smashing 57 off just 29 balls (two fours, six sixes) to lift the visitors to 174-7 before Delano Potgieter and Trent Boult combined to dismiss the Sunrisers for just 77.

    Potgieter claimed the career-best figures of 5-10, but it was the New Zealander Boult (2-16) who 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.

    It was the first time the Cape side had beaten the Sunrisers Eastern Cape in five attempts since the inception of SA20.

    HIGHLIGHTS: Sunrisers Eastern Cape vs MI Cape Town (SA20)

    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.

    One of Brevis’ half dozen sixes was caught one-handed in the crowd by Christopher Moolman, who became the first entrant into the Catch R2-million competition for the season.

    Although MICT lost Brevis heading into the final five overs, the momentum was maintained by Potgieter (25*, 12 balls) and George Linde (23*, 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 the Joburg Super Kings at the Wanderers on Saturday, while the Sunrisers will look to bounce back against the Paarl Royals at Boland Park also on Saturday.

    Photo: Ron Gaunt/Sportzpics

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    Simon Borchardt