Rassie, Ryan set up Wanderers win for MI Cape Town
● Returning to a venue they know intimately, Rassie van der Dussen and Ryan Rickelton silenced a cacophony of whistles as MI Cape Town claimed its first win in the 2024 edition of the SA20 here yesterday.
The duo usually call the “Bullring” home when playing for Central Gauteng Lions but, donning enemy colours, they used every bit of knowledge about their surroundings to propel MI Cape Town to a substantial total of 243/5 — the second largest score in the league.
In the process, they shared an opening partnership of 200, by some distance the biggest partnership in the competition’s brief history, as MI Cape Town claimed a 98run victory after bowling out the Joburg SuperKings (JSK) for 145 in the 18th over.
It was certainly a triumph for both. Rickelton, who scored 87 in Cape Town’s defeat to the Durban SuperGiants last Thursday, is clearly on a mission to show his exclusion from multiple Proteas squads following the World Cup was a mistake.
Van der Dussen will feel he too has a point to prove to Proteas coach Rob Walter, after being left out of the recent T20 series with India. With the T20 World Cup on the horizon, yesterday’s effort was a timely reminder of the value he believes he can still offer at international level in the shortest format.
His was an innings packed with bruising shotmaking and most importantly intent, an element many feel he doesn’t show early enough in his innings. However, that is part of his game plan, which involves giving himself a solid start, as was the case here where he struck his first boundary off the 11th ball he faced.
That four, flayed over backward off the bowling of Lizaad Williams, took him to 12 — Van der Dussen scored the remaining 38 runs to reach 50 off only 15 deliveries. He dominated the power play in which MI Cape Town scored 73, bettering the effort the pair scored in Durban by 12 runs.
Known as “Ma-thousand”— a nickname coined by his former coach at the Lions, Geoffrey Toyana, on account of all the shots he played — Van der Dussen began living up to that moniker; the renowned slog-sweep over cow corner was unleashed, along with lofted cover drives and vicious cuts.
He went from 50 to 100 in only 20 balls, registering the fourth century in SA20’s short history, and the second to be scored at this venue after Faf du Plessis’ 113 last year. It was also Van der Dussen’s fourth T20 hundred. He eventually finished on 104, which came off only 50 balls, and included nine fours and six sixes.
Rickelton gradually picked up the slack as the MI Cape Town openers put a listless JSK attack to the sword. With the exception of the first couple of overs, and then the final one bowled by Nandre Burger, it was a display from the home team that would have left bowling coach Eric Simons pulling his hair out.
It lacked discipline and control, and while the Wanderers — given that the easy paced nature of the pitch and the thin Highveld air aids boundary hitting — the concession of 19 sixes by the SuperKings was too many and illustrated their numerous problems.
In addition, apart from Du Plessis’ sensational one-handed diving effort, with the ball coming over his left shoulder, to get rid of Dewald Brevis, the rest of the JSK fielding display was diabolical.
There were knock-ons, miss-fields, boundary fielders running past the ball, a dreadful drop by Donavan Ferreira, and endless struggles for young wicketkeeper Ronan Herrmann — until his own spectacular onehanded grab, diving to his left, that led to Rickelton’s dismissal for 98.
JSK’s response floundered in the power play, in which they lost four wickets and scored only 47 runs. Leus Du Plooy’s 48 was the only bit of resistance shown by the home team.
George Linde, another player aiming to prove a point to Walter with the World Cup in mind, picked up 2/25, with the margin of MI Cape Town’s victory enough to earn them a bonus point.