Top-tier MI Cape Town look to defend position against Royals

Skipper Rashid had no hesitation in admitting that his team is extremely confident as they enter the Playoffs, facing Paarl Royals in Tuesday’s Qualifier 1 at St George’s Park here

MI Cape Town skipper Rashid Khan. PIC/SA20

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Having missed out on the Playoffs in both previous seasons of the Betway SA20, skipper Rashid Khan’s MI Cape Town have taken the third season by storm. They have topped the six-team event with seven wins out of 10 matches with 35 points in the bag, seven more than second-placed Paarl Royals. Such has been their form that despite making as many as six changes to the line-up in their inconsequential last league match against Pretoria Capitals on Sunday, they still ended up scoring a 200-plus total (201-5) to emerge winners by a whopping 95 runs.

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Skipper Rashid had no hesitation in admitting that his team is extremely confident as they enter the Playoffs, facing Paarl Royals in Tuesday’s Qualifier 1 at St George’s Park here. “In the last two seasons, we played good cricket, but somehow didn’t finish [matches] well. This year we have done that [finished games]. Everyone is in form and contributing. We have been playing some amazing cricket in the last four-five games so the energy is positive and confidence is high,” Rashid, who has led Afghanistan in 29 T20Is including a first-ever ICC T20 World Cup semi-final against South Africa in Trinidad and Tobago earlier this year, said at the match-even press conference here on Monday.

Paarl Royals’ David Miller is understandably wary of MI. “MI seem to be on fire. They have a lot of match-winners in their team, but at the same time, it’s a great opportunity for us to knock them off. T20 is about seizing the moment and it takes one or two guys to stand up and take it to the opposition. Also, whoever loses gets another semi-final [Eliminator], so that’s a good thing,” said Miller. In their previous meetings last month, MI beat the Royals by 33 runs at Cape Town before losing to them by six wickets in the return clash.

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