NEW DELHI: Defending champions MI Cape Town kept their SA20 playoff hopes alive with a hard-fought three-wicket win over Sunrisers Eastern Cape.
Pretoria Capitals (20 points), Sunrisers (24 points) and Paarl Royals (24 points) have already sealed their spots in the playoffs.
MI Cape Town (14 points) seized control early after Trent Boult removed an in-form Quinton de Kock with the very first delivery of the innings, restricting Sunrisers Eastern Cape to 139 for 9.
The Cape Town bowlers applied relentless pressure, with Boult finding his rhythm again to return figures of 3/28, while Corbin Bosch wrapped up the innings with an impressive 4/34.
Sunrisers’ batters found it difficult to come to terms with the two-paced Newlands surface, with Marco Jansen the only one to look comfortable at the crease.
The tall all-rounder smashed four sixes and three boundaries in a 23-ball 48 and, alongside James Coles’ steady 28 off 27 balls, guided Sunrisers to 139/9 from their 20 overs.
Jansen carried his momentum into the second innings, striking early to dismiss both Rassie van der Dussen and the in-form Ryan Rickelton inside the Powerplay to give Sunrisers an encouraging start.
However, Reeza Hendricks (41 off 43 balls) held firm, anchoring the chase and ensuring MI Cape Town stayed on course despite losing wickets at regular intervals.
George Linde added impetus with a brisk 31 off 18 balls, while new recruit Kieron Pollard chipped in with 20 off 14, though Sunrisers remained firmly in contention.
The chase became tense late on when Hendricks fell off the final ball of the penultimate over, caught at deep cover off Anrich Nortje, leaving MI Cape Town needing four runs from the last over.
But Sunrisers all-rounder Senuran Muthusamy (2/25) overstepped to hand Bosch a crucial free hit, and the latter calmly finished the job.
(With PTI Inputs)
