Pooran, Smith power MI Cape Town to dramatic first win of the season

Unseasonal rain could not prevent MI Cape Town (MIC) from clinching a dramatic four-wicket SA20 victory via the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method over Joburg Super Kings (JSK) at Newlands on Tuesday evening.

MIC edged past JSK’s revised target of 128 with four balls remaining to claim their much-needed first victory of the season.

The Newlands faithful have been waiting patiently for Nicholas Pooran to explode and the West Indies dynamo delivered a power-hitting show of the highest calibre. Pooran smashed five sixes in a thrill-a-ball 33 that rewarded the crowd that had waited patiently despite the consistent drizzle.

Each six was bigger than the previous with Pooran’s huge heave on to the top tier of the Members Stand off Richard Gleeson notable.

He ultimately fell on his sword, being caught on the deep cover boundary, which left Rassie van der Dussen (35 off 24 balls) having to hold it together before Jason Smith injected the momentum MI Cape Town required with a boundary-laden 22 off just six balls to take the home side to the brink. Karim Janat closed out the victory.

Intermittent weather had earlier seen the match delayed by an hour before Super Kings could begin their innings after being inserted by MIC.

JSK captain Faf du Plessis and his new opening partner James Vince stormed out of the starting blocks with a 32-run partnership off just 2.4 overs. Vince (15 off 9 balls) was caught in the covers off George Linde.

Du Plessis was again in a destructive mood, striking MI Cape Town spearhead Kagiso Rabada for four successive boundaries in the second over as he and continued to lead JSK’s charge.

After striking Linde over long-on, Du Plessis set his sights on New Zealander Trent Boult in the final over before the conclusion of the powerplay.

Du Plessis cracked four boundaries and a six to power JSK to 69/2 before the heavens opened again to force the players off the field.

The second delay lasted 75 minutes, which saw the contest reduced to 12 overs per side.

JSK’s momentum was severely disrupted with Du Plessis (44 off 21 balls) falling almost immediately after the resumption.

The home side clawed their way back into contention through Corbin Bosch (3/24) and Rashid Khan (2/32) with only Matthew de Villiers (21 off 15 balls) managing to get JSK up to 123/7, but it was not enough on the night.

SA20