NEW DELHI: Lhuan-dre Pretorius starred with an unbeaten 98 as Paarl Royals edged MI Cape Town by just one run in a thrilling SA20 clash at Boland Park, Paarl, extending the latter's winless streak.

Pretorius narrowly missed out on a century but his 65-ball innings, featuring 10 fours and two sixes, propelled the Royals to a challenging total of 181 for three. In response, MI Cape Town fell agonisingly short, finishing at 180 for eight.

Ryan Rickelton (36) and Rassie van der Dussen (59 off 42 balls, 2 fours, 5 sixes) provided a blazing start, putting together 77 runs for the opening wicket in just eight overs.

However, once the partnership was broken, MI Cape Town collapsed, slipping to 118 for six by the 15th over. None of the middle-order batsmen - Nicholas Pooran (12), Jason Smith (1), Jacques Snyman (2), and Tom Moores (0) - could make a meaningful contribution, leaving the Royals to celebrate a narrow but crucial victory.

It was Sikandar Raza (4-0-27-3) who caused the damage, dismissing Rickelton, Pooran and Moores in the middle overs to put the Royals in command.

MI Cape Town skipper Rashid Khan (35 off 18 balls; 2 fours, 3 sixes) then joined forces with George Linde (20 not out) with a 51-run partnership for the seventh wicket to revive his side.

With 15 runs needed off the final over, MI Cape Town lost two wickets in the final over in the form of Rashid and Kagiso Rabada with Ottneil Baartman finishing with 4-0-51-4.

MI Cape Town needed seven more runs off the last two balls, but only managed a single off the penultimate delivery and a four off the last to finish one run short.

Earlier in the first half, the young Pretorius was in his elements to get the Royals off to a strong start.

With Asa Tribe (51 off 34 balls; 5 fours, 1 six) in tow, he put on 100 runs for the first wicket in 10.4 overs to set up a strong platform but the Royals did slow down in their second half.

Skipper David Miller, coming off a match-winning half-century in their last outing, managed 19 with three fours as the Royals finished at 180 for three.

Rashid was the pick among the bowlers for MI Cape Town, returning 4-0-31-2.

(With PTI Inputs)