Another Rickelton hundred drives MI Cape Town to victory

Driven by a desire to prove the national selectors wrong and to dig his MI Cape Town side out of a hole, Ryan Rickelton tore into a hapless Joburg Super Kings attack at the Wanderers on Saturday night, registering a second century in this season’s SA20 tournament.

Rickelton, surprisingly omitted from the Proteas squad for next month’s T20 World Cup, became the first player to score multiple hundreds in one season of the SA20, when he notched up 113 not out, off only 60 balls. MI Cape Town racked up 234/3, the fourth highest total in the competition’s brief history. It proved too much for the hosts, who went down by 36 runs.

Rickelton, who grew up playing provincially for the Lions, has much like he did for his home union four seasons ago, let his bat do the talking after being left out of a Proteas team.

After making 113 in the competition opener, Rickelton struck eight fours and nine sixes and shared an opening partnership of 129 with his good mate Rassie van der Dussen, who scored 65.

It was a thunderous display from the pair, who two seasons ago shared what is still the competition’s highest partnership worth 200, when MI Cape Town notched up 243/5. That day Van der Dussen made the hundred, with Rickelton coming up two runs short of completing his.

He made sure not to miss out on Saturday, riding on the coat tails of his opening partner initially, who smacked half a dozen sixes in his 32-ball stay at the crease.

JSK’s bowlers making good use of cutters to take pace off the ball, briefly slowed the scoring rate, but Rickelton, with help from Afghanistan import Karim Janat, took complete control at death, as MI Cape Town scored 60 runs in the last four overs.

Besides Dan Worrall, who conceded 9.25 runs an over, every other JSK bowler had economy rates above 10 with the home team unable to divorce themselves of ill-discipline, that started with the game’s first delivery, an enormous leg-side wide by Worrall.

MI Cape Town’s bowlers, led by Kagiso Rabada were never going to be as generous. He dismissed Michael Pepper - the Englishman opening the batting in place of Faf du Plessis who injured his finger while fielding - and Wiaan Mulder, to knock the home team’s innings off kilter.

Half-centuries from James Vince - his second in the tournament - and Dian Forrester, who showed off some assured stroke-play, proved insufficient.

The win was crucial for MI Cape Town and makes for an intriguing third week of the tournament, with all six teams still in contention for play-off spots. The Super Kings travel to Gqeberha to face the table-topping Sunrisers on Wednesday, while MI Cape Town stay in Gauteng and will face the Pretoria Capitals in Centurion on Monday.