MI Cape Town still hoping to sneak into SA20 playoffs, but death bowling must improve

MI Cape Town’s Reeza Hendricks has not given up hope that the defending champions can still sneak into the playoffs.

Robin Peterson’s side suffered a demoralising 53-run defeat to Pretoria Capitals at Centurion on Monday night which has left MI Cape Town’s campaign in tatters. They currently have 10 points from eight games and are rooted to the bottom of the table. 

With only two matches remaining - both against Sunrisers Eastern Cape - in the group phase, MI Cape Town virtually need a full house of two bonus point victories to potentially lift them to 20 points if they are to reach the knockout stages. 

Hendricks, who played a lone hand against the Capitals with 68 not out off 50 balls, steadfastly believes the fight is not over yet. 

“Obviously we have two games left, so yeah, still a lot to play for in these two games,” Hendricks said. “Hopefully we can put it together.”

MI Cape Town would rue the fact that they had controlled the first quarter of the game, having reduced the Capitals to 89/4 in the 13th over. 

But unfortunately, that’s when the sloppiness that has punctured their entire campaign creeped in. Two dropped catches in a single Corbin Bosch over offered the dangerous Sherfane Rutherford and Dewald Brevis reprieves they later cashed in on. 

Rutherford (53 off 27 balls) and Brevis (34 off 19 balls) shared a damaging 69-run partnership off just 34 balls as MI Cape Town’s death bowling went awry. 

The batting unit then capitulated with MI Cape Town losing four wickets for 11 runs during the middle period. 

“For the Capitals to get 180, I think we let ourselves down for them to get to that score and then yeah, as a batting unit we just couldn't put it together tonight. Yeah, as I said, it was tricky and we lost our way.

“Capitals obviously bowled really well and then we kept losing wickets where we couldn't gain momentum or any sort of partnerships to put us in a good position.”

Captain Rashid Khan also bemoaned his team’s death bowling with too many deliveries being overpitched. 

"To keep the team in the hunt, we have to look at how we start with the ball. We should have restricted them to under 160. Throughout the tournament, we've struggled with our death bowling, giving away too many runs in the final overs,.

"That's an area where you lose all momentum heading into the next innings. We had them under control for the first 12 or 13 overs, but the way they finished took the game away from us.”