New Year’s Eve turned into a night of fireworks for Pretoria Capitals as they registered their first win of SA20 Season 4 with an emphatic 85-run bonus-point victory over MI Cape Town at Newlands on Wednesday.Capitals piled up a daunting 220/5 before skittling the hosts for just 135, with Sherfane Rutherford delivering a sensational all-round performance on a memorable night in Cape Town.
After being put under pressure early, Capitals found themselves wobbling at 36/3 inside the Powerplay, thanks largely to a probing opening spell from a fit-again Kagiso Rabada. However, Shai Hope and Wihan Lubbe steadied the innings with a crucial fourth-wicket stand, arresting the slide with calculated aggression.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!Hope struck a composed 45 off 30 balls while Lubbe anchored the recovery with a fluent 60 off 36, ensuring Capitals had a platform to launch from in the death overs. That platform was spectacularly exploited by Sherfane Rutherford and Dewald Brevis.The duo unleashed a breathtaking assault, adding 86 runs in just 27 balls. Rutherford’s unbeaten 47 came off only 15 deliveries and included six towering sixes, while Brevis matched the tempo with a rapid 36 not out from 13 balls. Capitals plundered 92 runs in the final five overs at a staggering run-rate of 18.2.Rutherford’s penultimate over assault on Dewald Pretorius stunned the Newlands crowd, as the West Indian smashed four consecutive sixes, part of a sequence of six maximums in a row across two overs.In reply, MI Cape Town’s hopes rested heavily on openers Ryan Rickelton and Rassie van der Dussen, who provided a brisk start with a 60-run stand inside the Powerplay. But once both fell in quick succession, the chase unraveled rapidly.
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Nicholas Pooran briefly threatened a counterattack, hammering Keshav Maharaj for four sixes in a row during a 25 off six balls. Maharaj, however, had the final say, dismissing Pooran and finishing with figures of 3/28 to break the spine of the middle order.Rutherford capped off a dream evening with career-best bowling figures of 4/24 as MI Cape Town collapsed, sealing a dominant victory for Pretoria Capitals and kickstarting their Season 4 campaign in emphatic fashion.Brief ScoresPretoria Capitals: 220 for 5 in 20 overs (Wihan Lubbe 60, Sherfane Rutherford 47 not out; Kagiso Rabada 2/48) MI Cape Town: 135 all out in 14.5 overs (Ryan Rickelton 33; Sherfane Rutherford 4/24, Keshav Maharaj 3/28)
