The commentary is not available for this match. Please check the scorecard for latest updates.
It was a pleasure like always bringing all the live updates from this encounter. Keep following Sportskeeda for all sporting actions. The action of SA20 continues tomorrow. Until then, this is Arya Sekhar Chakraborty signing off also on behalf of my good mate and fellow commentator Rajarshi Das.
This will hurt the MI Cape Town. They surely had the best team the competiton but it hasn't been their year so far. As Rashid mentioned they will look to come out all guns blazing in the next season. They still mathematically stands a chance of qualifying for the final four but that will require several permutations and combinations. Wayne Parnell mentioned that he will have a scan tomorrow and take it from there. He is unlikely to play tomorrow.
Wayne Parnell (Pretoria Capitals captain): Winning is the first and foremost goal of the team. When it was about 14 runs there was a discussion about whether I should go now or after the next wicket. I can’t tell you too much, it's sore, we are gonna scan it tomorrow and take it day by day from there on. I think it’s just personal goals, our goal has been to win all the games. We have lost two games but the attitude has remained the same, we have qualified but we still have two crucial games. We need some momentum going into the semi-final. I think we have done well throughout. We have had a good start with the bat and ball, When we have been put under pressure with the ball, we have performed. It is very pleasing as a captain. Somehow we manage to creep over the line, that's the main character of the team having that never say die attitude.
Rilee Rossouw (Player of the Match), here is what he has to say: No I wasn’t happy with that wide. Things happen, we are all human. Maybe it was my fault, I apologize if I was wrong there. He is a very experienced umpire. It wasn’t the flattest wicket, there was a bit of crack and inconsistent bounce. Our bowlers did a great job to restrict them to 160 after the start they had. I didn’t have the best seasons but this game is one step in the right direction. Hopefully, I can start performing in this business end of the tournament.
Rashid Khan, MI Cape Town captain: It was a great effort, a great game of cricket at the end. I think those areas in which we were struggling, that is something we didn't do well today as well. I feel we were 15-20 runs short. We got the runs on the board, but didn't utilize the last 6-7 overs. You'd expect 15-20 runs off the final over if a spinner is bowling. This is something we faced in most games. The bowlers did a wonderful job, it was a wicket worth 180 runs or more, the way they bowled, came back and took it to the last ball, it was a great effort. It was going to take a little bit of time with all the new guys. We had the best team on paper, great support staff, but things don't go to your favour at times. Cannot do anything about it, got to work hard and keep believing. It's a new competition, new franchise, most of the guys had that pressure. It'll take a year or two for the team to go from strength to strength. When the things don't go in your favour, you've got to give it time, work hard and believe in yourself.
Time for the post-match presentation ceremony with Pommie Mbangwa.
Pretoria Capitals won by 1 wicket (on the final delivery of the match)
MI Cape Town 159 all-out in 19.4 overs Rassie van der Dussen 51(29) | Jimmy Neesham 2/26 | Anrich Nortje 2/37
Pretoria Capitals 160/9 in 20 overs Rilee Rossouw 40(19) |Kusal Mendis 39(25) | Sam Curran 3/26 | Odean Smith 2/34
It was going to be a tricky run chase for the Pretroia Capitals but once Kusal Mendis set the ball rolling, it looked like a comfortable chase for them. However, a cluster of wickets in the middle overs turned the game on its head but eventually, they managed to get over the line Kusal Mendis got off to a blazing start and found the boundaries consistently during the powerplay.
Philip Salt didn’t get enough strike and was eventually dismissed while attempting to go for a big shot. The opening partnership yeiled 50 runs in just 5.1 overs before the departure of Salt. All of a sudden from 50/0, they slipped to 53/3 and looked under the pump. Sam Curran bowled a splendid delivery to castle Kusal Mendis.
That pitched on a length and straightened significantly to beat the outside edge of Mendis and rattled the stumps. It was a sight to behold for Curran. Rashid Khan introduced himself and got a wicket very first ball but Rilee Rossouw and Shane Dadswell shared a good partnership which again got them rolling. Rossouw smashed Duan Jansen for three back-to-back sixes to shift the momentum in their favor.
He raced his way to a 18-ball 40 before perishing while attempting another maximum. He came out with intent and spanked the bowlers all around Centurion. Again there was a collapse for the Capitals as MI managed to roar back strongly. Odeon Smith had a great time with the ball, he kept hitting the hard lengths and reaped dividends.
The required rate was still pretty manageable and Senuran Muthusamy managed to find the boundaries on a few occasions to get the equation closer. With 3 runs required of the final over, Sam Curran kept Cape Town in the game with the wicket of Muthusamy but eventually, a full toss on the final delivery handed the Capitals a 1 wicket win.
Earlier in the day, MI Cape Town could only muster 159 after being put into bat by Wayne Parnell. Rassie van der Dussen scored a delightful half-century but the rest of the batting line-up couldn't quite convert their starts. They kept losing wickets which didn't really allow them to get to a defendable score on this surface. The bowlers fought valiantly but couldn't quite their side over the line.
So the MI Cape Town are effectively out of the tournament after the last ball defeat. Such a thrilling contest and ends in favor of the Capitals. Sam Curran couldn't quite nail the yorker and Little managed to slice away the full toss over the cover fielder's head and Parnell had enough time to hop along for a couple.
20
overs
160/9score
0
1
W
0
0
2
runs
Josh Little*
2(3)
Wayne Parnell
2(3)
Sam Curran
3/26
19.6 Sam Curran to Joshua Little, full toss, Little bunts it over cover and they get the winning runs!!! Curran fails to hold his nerves right at the very end, he sprays a full toss outside off stump, Little swings his bat at it, manages to get it over the in-field at cover, the ball trickles onto the outfield, the fielder at short cover gives chase, there was enough time for Parnell to hop back for the second, and with that, MI Cape Town's hopes of reaching the semis of the 2023 SA20 come to an end, more or less! The Pretoria Capitals take the game by the barest of margins - 1 wicket, off the final delivery!
2 off 1 needed. This is getting intense here. Wayne Parnell won't be able to run. More movement on the field. This has been a such a thrilling contest with pendulum swinging from one team to the other.
19.5 Sam Curran to Joshua Little, dot ball, dot ball!!! This was a full delivery outside off stump, Little gives himself room, tries to drive but is beaten! 2 needed off the final delivery now!
2 off 2 now. This is getting very close. Are we in for a super over?
There was definitely something involved, was it bat? The wide has been reversed here.
19.4 Sam Curran to Joshua Little, full and down the leg side.....and it's a wide! The scores are level! Rashid Khan goes for a review! That is clever from him, he knows that there is very little chance that he nicked it, but if the ball grazed his pads, the wide call will be overturned! Ultra-edge shows that the ball didn't take the bat....but it did graze his pad! The wide call has been reversed! That is a splendid bit of thinking from the MI Cape Town captain!
5 fielders inside the circle on the off side.
Joshua Little, RHB comes out to the crease.
The soft signal from the umpire is not out. It has clearly gone of the face of the bat and carried straight to the backward point fielder. That is a massive wicket. We have game on folks. 2 runs still need off the last 3 deliveries with just 1 wicket in hand.
19.3 Sam Curran to Senuran Muthusamy, OUT, taken!!! Or was this a bump ball? This was the wide yorker, Muthusamy squeezed this one to Brevis at backward point, who took the catch, but hang on...... Muthusamy isn't going anywhere! The third umpire has a look at this...... and as it turns out, Muthusamy did hit it on the volley to Brevis at backward point, and the Capitals are down to their final pair with two runs still needed!
Senuran Muthusamy c Dewald Brevis b Sam Curran 25 (23b 4x2 6x2)
19.2 Sam Curran to Wayne Parnell, massive respect to Parnell, he hobbled for his life and made it to the other end to get Muthusamy back on strike! This was dug in on a good length, Parnell was late on it, mistimed it towards Rashid at mid-off, Rashid slid, gathered, threw at the non-striker's with Parnell miles away, the throw was poor, Curran was in no position to gather having gone past the stumps, and they get the single!