RICKELTON AND RASSIE IN THE GROOVE FOR MI CAPE TOWN

MI Cape Town head to Newlands for their first home Betway SA20 clash against Sunrisers Eastern Cape on Tuesday evening with an opening pair that are in red-hot form.

Ryan Rickleton and Rassie van der Dussen have raced out of the starting blocks in Season 2, with the pair etching their names into the record books on Saturday against the Joburg Super Kings with a mammoth 200-run opening stand off just 93 balls.

It eclipsed the previous mark of 157 set by JSK’s Faf du Plessis and Reeza Hendricks at the same ground last season.

The partnership was laced with sixes. Rickelton cleared the fence eight times while Van der Dussen belted a half dozen. They also struck a further 14 boundaries between them during the run spree.

In the process, Van der Dussen brought up the first century of Season 2 before he eventually departed for 104 off 50 balls.

Rickelton was unfortunate to miss out on his personal milestone being dismissed for 98 in the final over.

The Wanderers show was not a once-off either as they had also blitzed Durban’s Super Giants for 82 runs in just 7.3 overs a few days earlier at Kingsmead.

“These two games have shown that Ryan and I make a nice partnership. We have played together for a lot of years and we know each other’s games pretty well,” Van der Dussen said.

“He got off to a flyer in Durban and really ran with that momentum. It was my turn (at the Wanderers).”

Rickleton is currently the leading run-scorer in the competition with 185 runs at the identical strike-rate of 185 after the the attacking left-hander also blasted 87 off 51 balls against DSG in MICT’s opening game at Kingsmead.

Van der Dussen is certainly pleased for his opening partner’s success.

“Ryan is a quality player; he had a bit of a lean run last year. He has put a lot of work into his game and has worked hard to get into this groove. I have high expectations of him this season. I told him his time will come,” he said.