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IT’S ALL ABOUT WINS AS PRETORIA CAPITALS AND MI CAPE TOWN START BACK-TO-BACK MINI-SERIES

1 Feb 20243 mins

With only one Betway SA20 Season 2 Playoffs spot remaining, the permutations for Pretoria Capitals and MI Cape Town have become clearer for their back-to-back mini-series starting on Thursday at Centurion (17:30)… beat the other team twice and (particularly for MICT) claim at least one bonus point.

Joburg Super Kings’ loss on Wednesday night sees them remain in 4th place, stuck on 13 points with only one match left – so their maximum haul now is 18 points (and that’s if they can get a bonus point win against top-of-the-table Durban’s Super Giants).

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Capitals, currently on 10 points, could thus secure a playoffs spot with ‘just’ two outright wins, but MICT, currently on 9 points, would need that extra point to get to 18 and bring it down to a net run rate and number of wins come into play.

Following their fifth loss of 2024 (they only lost four times overall in 2023) on Tuesday at Durban’s Super Giants, Capitals captain Wayne Parnell did not want to spend too long analysing why the two seasons has been so different for the men in sky blue.

“It’s a combination of things, but we’ve lost the crucial moments in various games which probably makes us end up losing. Still, there have been good things throughout every single game but it’s those crucial moments which are the difference between winning and losing.”

Now faced with back-to-back clashes against MI Cape Town, Parnell chose to keep hope.

“There’s still a lot to play for in our two group games and we’ll have to see where we end up after that…”

MI Cape Town head coach Robin Peterson, though, couldn’t hide the hurt of the rain-affected bonus points loss against Joburg Super Kings on Monday.

“It’s a hard one to take because you feel a little bit hard done by, but that’s cricket… you don’t get everything in life, we’ll just go again and try win our next two – that’s all we can focus on.”

Peterson had similar sentiments to Parnell about the task that lay ahead of his troops.

“We can still qualify, so we’re still positive, we’ve got two games that we have to win. Yes, we need two results but that’s the nature of this competition – anybody can beat anybody. Everybody is still alive in this tournament, which is what makes it so great.

Despite the precarious position MICT find themselves in, Peterson spoke glowingly about their captain, Kieron Pollard – who was also his captain in MI New York’s victorious Major League Cricket campaign last year.

“We’re talking about one of the greatest of all times in our dressing room who’s spent a lot of time in Cape Town and gives it his all… an example being stepping up [on Monday], not in his batting position. That’s what he’s brought to our team; a lot of leadership, a lot of calm, a lot cricket savvy but most of all he plays with his heart – that’s all we can ask for from the guys who play for this team.

“You can’t fault his commitment to this team, he’s tried absolutely everything and he will continue to try everything until the last ball is bowled for this team. We’re just privileged and happy that he’s part of our dressing room and the boys – especially the local guys – are learning so much from him, not only from a cricket perspective but how to be a professional and if you want to succeed Pollard is the perfect guy to talk to and he’s great around the change room.”

FULL SQUADS FOR CENTURION

Pretoria Capitals: Wayne Parnell (captain), Colin Ackermann, Matthew Boast, Corbin Bosch, Eathan Bosch, Shane Dadswell, Theunis de Bruyn, Daryn Dupavillon, Colin Ingram, Will Jacks, Senuran Muthusamy, Migael Pretorius, Adil Rashid, Rilee Rossouw, Phil Salt, Jacques Snyman, Tiaan van Vuuren, Kyle Verreynne, Hardus Viljoen.

MI Cape Town: Kieron Pollard (captain), Tom Banton, Chris Benjamin, Dewald Brevis, Sam Curran, Connor Esterhuizen, Beuran Hendricks, Duan Jansen, Thomas Kaber, George Linde, Liam Livingstone, Delano Potgieter, Kagiso Rabada, Ryan Rickelton, Grant Roelofsen, Olly Stone, Nuwan Thushara, Rassie van der Dussen, Nealan van Heerden.