Jozi Stars and Cape Town Blitz players, vast and varied, emerged jubilant and disappointed after Sunday’s Mzansi Super League final at Newlands.
Jozi Stars captain Dane Vilas: ‘I’m so excited. It’s an unbelievable team performance. It’s difficult in such a quick tournament like this to pull together. Credit must go to everyone, our management staff – even our bus driver has been an inspiration. I just hope the MSL can get better. I don’t know how it can get much better than this. It’s a great time to be involved in cricket, especially in South Africa. Long may this continue.’
Most Valuable Player of the Tournament Quinton de Kock: ‘I’ve had a great tournament personally. It is disappointing to lose the final, but I am still proud of my team. We are all very excited about the MSL – it’s not a normal T20 competition, it’s a bigger stage. We’ve shown the rest of the world what we can do, just proud to finally have our own tournament.’
Final Player of the Match Beuran Hendricks: ‘I think the bowling unit just communicate well with each other. Everyone brings a different skillset. It’s a big stepping stone for me, coming off a couple of years injury and letdowns. This is a stepping stone to get back to where I want to be.’
Fast bowler Kagiso Rabada, who belatedly joined the Jozi Stars after returning from South Africa’s limited-overs tour of Australia: ‘We didn’t come off a great start, but it was a great environment when I joined the team. We just decided to give it our best shot and I’m glad it came off.’
Australian and Jozi Stars all-rounder Dan Christian: ‘One of the great thing about our performance is we’ve had different match winners almost every game. To know you’ve got the best bowler in the world, Kagiso, in your arsenal gives confidence.’
Msanzi Super League leading run-scorer Rassie van der Dussen: ‘I couldn’t have imagined it any better. There [are] so many standout performers in our team, that’s why we won. The public has loved the MSL. I’ve never been approached by the public so many times. They’ve warmed up to it.’
Cape Town Blitz captain Farhaan Behardien: ‘We just never built up enough partnerships and we couldn’t have any momentum at the end. We played well as a unit throughout the league stage. We’ll take some lessons from this knockout game. We’ll lick our wounds and come back better next year. I felt I was connected to the players. For me to lead a team like this has been a feather in my cap.’
Photo: Gallo
