Cape Town, January 8
As MI Cape Town edged past Joburg Super Kings revised target of 128 with four balls remaining to claim their much-needed first victory of the SA20, Jason Smith who slammed 22 off just 7 balls to square of the match said it was a pressure game and a must win for us.
Unseasonal rain could not prevent MI Cape Town from clinching a dramatic four-wicket (via Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method) victory over Joburg Super Kings at Newlands. Smith dispatched his first ball, a low full toss, deep into the Newlands night sky to get his engine revving.
"Yeah, obviously, there was a bit of pressure coming into this game. We knew it was a must-win for us. To be fair, I actually wasn't expecting that for the first ball. Not often you get a full toss, and I feel like sometimes full toss is actually the hardest ball to get away," Jason Smith said as per SA20.
"But I'll definitely take that to get me going, and I think it helped me," he added.
Nicholas Pooran smashed five sixes in a thrill-a-ball 33 that rewarded the crowd that had waited patiently despite the consistent drizzle.
Pooran's massive heave onto the top tier of the Members Stand off Richard Gleeson will live in the memory of those who witnessed it for a long while.
Pooran ultimately fell on his sword, being caught on the deep cover boundary, which left Rassie van der Dussen (35 off 24 balls, 3x6) having to hold it together before Smith injected the momentum MI Cape Town required with a boundary-laden 22 off just six balls to the home side to the brink before Karim Janat closed out the victory with four balls remaining.
Intermittent weather had earlier delayed the match by an hour, and the Super Kings were inserted by MI Cape Town to begin their innings.
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 before Vince (15 off 9 balls, 2x4, 1x6) was caught in the covers off George Linde.
Du Plessis has already shown that he was in a destructive mood, striking MI Cape Town spearhead Kagiso Rabada for four successive boundaries in the second over, and continued to lead JSK's charge after Vince's dismissal.
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 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 and reduced the contest to 12 overs per side. JSK's momentum was severely disrupted with Du Plessis (44 off 21 balls, 7x4, 2x6) 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, 3x4) managing to get JSK up to 123/7, but it was not enough on the night.
- ANI
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