Categories: Sports

SA20 2024/25, MICT vs SEC Final Match Report, February 08, 2025

MI Cape Town 181 for 8 (Esterhuizen 39, Brevis 38, Gleeson 2-22) beat Sunrisers Eastern Cape 105 (Abell 30, Rabada 4-25, Boult 2-9, Linde 2-20) by 76 runs

Rashid Khan’s MI Cape Town have been crowned the new champions of the SA20, after they denied Aiden Markram’s Sunrisers Eastern Cape a three-peat and decimated them for the third time this season, in front of a packed crowd at the Wanderers.

After opting to bat, MICT felt at home – all of their top five play for Lions at the Wanderers – and sent the ball flying over the boundaries in the Highveld. The rarefied air suited their style of play: despite losing wickets, MICT kept attacking and posted 181 for 8 on the back of electric cameos. Three of their batters passed 30 and all of them struck at 150 or above. It was Dewald Brevis who truly brought the crowd alive with his 18-ball 38. Brevis, 21, capped the season as its rising star.

MICT’s older stars Trent Boult and Kagiso Rabada then wrecked Sunrisers’ chase by sharing six wickets between them. Boult, in particular, hooped the new ball both ways in the powerplay, and ended with 4-0-9-2. Rashid and George Linde, the left-arm fingerspinner, then ramped up the pressure in the middle overs before Rabada wrapped up the victory. Sunrisers folded for 105 in 18.4 overs.

MI have now ticked off title wins in every franchise T20 tournament they’ve been part of. IPL, CLT20 (now defunct), WPL, MLC, ILT20, SA20.

Rickelton fires opening salvo

Ryan Rickelton threw the first punch at Marco Jansen, the best bowler of the competition, taking him for 29 off nine balls at an eye-popping strike rate of 322.22. When Jansen pitched it up, Rickelton pumped him over his head and then, when he shortened his lengths, Rickelton used the rarefied air of the Highveld to his advantage and hooked him away over the leg side.

However, when Craig Overton took pace off, Rickelton couldn’t manufacture his own pace and ended up chipping a catch to mid-off.

As for Rassie van der Dussen, he also showed attacking intent on the occasions he manufactured swinging room, but his execution wasn’t as good as Rickelton’s. Van der Dussen made 23 off 25 balls before Liam Dawson had him stumped in the ninth over. By then, Reeza Hendricks had also fallen to Richard Gleeson for a duck.

Brevis intervention

When it seemed like Sunrisers had seized control, Brevis intervened and put MICT back on track for a tall total. He walloped Dawson for back-to-back sixes down the ground and proceeded to line up Andile Simelane, who had replaced the injured Ottneil Baartman. Playing only his second SA20 game, Simelane wilted under pressure and leaked 14 in the only over he bowled.

Brevis then brought the roof down at the Wanderers when he launched a one-handed six off a slower variation from Overton in the 15th over. Linde, who had been promoted to No.5 to counter Dawson’s left-arm fingerspin, also did his job, hitting him for two sixes. When he attempted another six, he failed to clear long-off.

After having been taken to the cleaners in the early exchanges, Jansen bounced back to cut Brevis’ innings short.

Markram didn’t want to risk Similane at the death and hence decided to take matters into his own hands in the 17th over. Though he got rid of Connor Esterhuizen, the batter had already done the damage with a sequence of 6,6,4 in an 18-run over.

Delano Potgieter and Rabada then ensured MICT breached 180.

MICT’s bowling masterclass

That total looked a whole lot bigger when Boult, especially, made Sunrisers’ batters look silly in the powerplay. After he softened David Bedingham with inswingers, Rabada made the incision by having the batter chipping a catch to short cover for 5. Boult got his first wicket of the evening when he drew a leading edge from Jordan Hermann for 1.

Boult had scarcely believable powerplay figures of 3-0-4-1 before he returned at the death to trick Tristan Subbs with a slower variation. Tom Abell briefly countered MICT’s strikes before Linde had him stumped for 30 off 25 balls. Linde continued to keep it tight along with his captain Rashid, who pinned Tony de Zorzi lbw for 26 in a boundary-less spell. During their chase, Sunrisers went without a boundary for 45 balls.

Dawson ended the drought when he sent a thick outside-edge flying to the boundary off Rabada but the quick sunk the Sunrisers’ lower order with his nifty variations.

From finishing bottom of the table in the first two seasons of the SA20, MICT clinched their first title on Saturday and celebrated under firework-filled skies.

Deivarayan Muthu is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo

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