Nicholas Pooran and Jason Smith light up Newlands to power MI Cape Town to first win

Nicholas Pooran and Jason Smith combined their power to drive MI Cape Town to their first win of the Betway SA20 Season 4.

Winless after five matches, the defending champions were desperate to get their campaign back on track and it seemed that the weather would be their undoing after consistent drizzle met the players on their arrival.

The start was delayed by 60 minutes and then Joburg Super Kings’ innings was interrupted after six overs, which forced the match to be reduced to 12 overs per side.

The visitors, courtesy of captain Faf du Plessis’ 44 (21 balls, 7x4, 2x6), pushed JSK up to a competitive 123/7, which was revised to a target of 128 after the Duckworth Lewis method calculations.

MI Cape Town needed their senior players to step up to the challenge, especially after the in-form Ryan Rickelton fell early for just five.

Rassie van der Dussen (35 off 24 balls) played the anchor role that allowed Pooran to set up the chase with an electrifying 33 that included five gigantic sixes.

Pooran however left the arena with MI Cape Town still needing 39 runs off 19 balls and Smith responded by smashing 22 off 7, including three sixes.

But he too fell before the end which left Karim Janat and Corbin Bosch to get the remaining 12 runs to send Newlands into raptures.

“Brilliant effort from everyone. After the powerplay the way we came back was a brilliant effort. That's what he's famous for (Pooran). That's what we're expecting from him. Blasting innings in the middle,” said MI Cape Town captain Rashid Khan.

“So happy everyone contributed. Was a long wait for the win. Feel like this win will give us so much energy.”

Meanwhile, JSK captain Du Plessis believes that his team were on the wrong side of the DLS calculations

“We played a really good first half of the game. Frustrating thing for me is that DLS in T20s is still a mismatch. Missing 8 overs and only getting 6 runs, it's almost built for ODI cricket. You're getting much more than 6 runs in 8 overs,” Du Plessis said.

“As you can see it's pretty cloudy conditions out here so it was tough for the boys to catch tonight. The shortened game suited the style of their batting lineup. The ball was sliding on nicely towards the death because of the wet outfield. 

“That's what good death hitters do. Someone like Nicky P comes in and puts the pressure on you.