FROM POWERPLAYS TO LEFTIES AND BATTING FIRST: HOW MICT WON THE TITLE

MI Cape Town not only broke their Playoffs duck, but then went on to win their first Betway SA20 title. Here is, according to CricViz analysis tools, how the men in blue-and-gold became Season 3 champions...

Back-to-back batting masterclasses see MI Cape Town crowned champions

The final week of Betway SA20 Season 3 saw MI Cape Town produce dominant performances batting first to beat the Paarl Royals in Qualifier 1 and then back-to-back champions Sunrisers Eastern Cape in the Final at Wanderers to lift the coveted trophy. 

MI Cape Town were by far and away the best batting side inside the Powerplay, a phase in which bowlers have generally dominated this season, regularly forcing batting sides into a rebuilding phase. 

Rassie van der Dussen was without a doubt the key batter in MICT’s early innings dominance - he played in 11 of MI Cape Town’s 12 matches and had a perfect Powerplay record, never being dismissed inside the opening six overs throughout the competition while still keeping his Powerplay strike rate at 136. 

Van der Dussen was supported by Ryan Rickelton, who scored 220 runs off 124 balls inside the Powerplay - his strike rate of 177 was the highest for any batter inside the Powerplay, with Lhuan-dre Pretorius the only other batter to strike at over 150 inside the Powerplay. 

Rickelton raced to 30 off 17 and van der Dussen 31 off 19 as MI Cape Town put on 66-0 in the Powerplay against the Royals in Qualifier 1. Van der Dussen held firm on 19 off 18 at the end of the Powerplay against Sunrisers in the Final, with MICT finding themselves 52-2 after the opening six overs after Rickelton had blitzed 33 off 15. The foundation was set. 

Brevis benefits from foundations set by solid top order

After a couple of tricky SA20 campaigns to start his career, Season 3 saw the best of Dewald Brevis with the bat, scoring 291 runs at an average of 48.5 and a strike rate of 184. 

The table above illustrates just how important entry point is for the 21-year-old. When coming out to bat between Over 7 and Over 12, Brevis scored 252 off 138 including two fifties and multiple high impact scores between 20 and 50 - including 44 off 30 during Qualifier 1 and 38 off 18 in the Final. 

When held back however Brevis struggled to make a lasting impact, hitting double digits in just one of the four innings in which he came to the crease after the 14th Over. 

Brevis was destructive against pace throughout the competition, striking at 211 against the quicks with a healthy 37 average. Pacers seemed to play into his strength, bowling a full length to him with 53% of their deliveries - he struck at 254 against full deliveries compared to just 145 against length, where he faced just 11% of deliveries. 

He was dismissed just once against the spinners, while striking at 149 - a very impressive record considering the quality of spinners on display in this season’s competition. 

Lefty Linde plays a high impact role

Another key cog in the MICT batting unit was left-hander George Linde. His ability to get going quickly with the bat throughout the tournament made him incredibly valuable, striking at 136 in his first 10 balls at the crease and then upping that to strike rate to 232 after facing 10 deliveries. 

Linde played short, high impact innings that added momentum to the MICT batting unit - he faced over 20 balls just once in the tournament, showing just how selfless he was as a batter. 

In the Playoffs his ability to take on left-arm spin (his stock trade) against strong spin units was particularly important - Linde contributed with 26 off 14 in Qualifier 1 including three sixes off left-arm spinners, following that up with 20 off 14 in the Final, with two sixes off Liam Dawson. 

Potgieter emerges as a key death overs batter

Strong showings both at the top of the order and throughout the middle overs from MI Cape Town often set up the game up for Delano Potgieter to tee off towards the back-end. 

Potgieter was perhaps a surprise star for MI Cape Town with the bat, he often wasn’t required to make considerable contributions, not batting or bowling in two matches during the campaign but when he was, he delivered. 

No batter scored more runs in the last five overs of the innings than Potgieter’s 166 during the 2025 season - the southpaw was equally adept at taking on the short ball (181 strike rate) as he was against anything full (181 strike rate), often leaving bowling units struggling to find a plan to him at the back-end. Potgieter whacked 32 off 17 in Qualifier 1 to take MI Cape Town from what would’ve perhaps been a par total to an above par total of 199. 

MI Cape Town’s scoring rate of 11.26 in the final overs was by far and away the highest in the tournament, a testament to their improvement as a collective batting unit after being only the fourth-highest scoring death overs team in 2024 and the slowest scoring in the inaugural season. 

Clear plan gives MICT the edge batting first

MI Cape Town won 6 of their 8 completed matches when batting first this season, including both Qualifier 1 and the Final - Sunrisers Eastern Cape were the only other side with above a 50% win rate batting first this season at 5 wins in 9 games. 

Batting first had been a thorn in MICT’s side during the first two editions, with only 3 wins in 11 games batting first across SA20 2023 and 2024. 

With a clear blueprint to follow as a batting unit and strong individuals stepping up, they not only managed to turn a clear weakness into a strength but also did so in back-to-back high pressure Playoffs matches to end as Season 3 champions and end the reign of Playoffs specialists Sunrisers Eastern Cape with a statement victory.