The inaugural edition of the SA T20 league saw its second match between Durban Super Giants vs Mumbai Indians Cape Town at Kingsmead, saw some big names from the global T20 circuit and the national team of South Africa play a rain-curtailed slugfest.
The pitch and weather were predictable
The high-scoring match in the SA T20 league went on expected lines, with the pitch being a batter’s paradise and rain playing spoilsport. The revised target for the Supergiants made things easier for them at a time when both teams were neck-and-neck in the match. The statistics show that Kingsmead does not favour batting or bowling first.
Durban Super Giants wins the toss and elects to field
The DSG has a decent all-round batting and bowling set-up that gives them the confidence to chase targets. But their bowling line-up was tested from the start. Ryan Pickelton took bowlers like England international Reese Topley to the cleaners with a well-made 87 in 51 balls to give a good start to MI.
Together with South African international Rassie Dussen, they put together 82 when Dussen was dismissed for 24 in 20 balls, while both looked ominous for DSG. After losing a couple more wickets, MI seemed to lose the plot.
MI posts a big total
Stand-in MI skipped Keiron Pollard proved that he still has it in him by scoring 31 in just 14 balls to take them to 207 in their innings. Keemo Paul stood out for his bowling performance with two wickets, giving away 31 runs in four overs.
DSG’s batting line-up proves to be better
There was a glitch at the start when they lost De Kock early in the innings. It was left to Matthew Breetzke to hold the fort with a well-made 39 in 24 balls.
There is a storm coming, and its name is Heinrich Klassen.
The storm came before the rain. Klassen pulverised the bowling attack, scoring 85 in 35 balls with eight sixes and four hits to the boundary. He was on a mission to see things through for DSG and did it as he liked. He is the player to watch out for in the CSA T20 league.
MI fights back, but….
MI did not give up, kept chipping away with regular wickets at the other end, and seemed to have a chance after dismissing Klassen. They kept the late-order batters on a tight lease.
But then, rain interrupted their chances for a win when the odds were in their favour of picking the remaining wickets. 177/6 DSG was ahead by 11 runs in the 17th over, which sealed the match’s fate in their favour.
If the Durban Super Giants vs Mumbai Indians Cape Town is anything to go by, the SA T20 league will be a carnival of runs.