MICT keep qualification hopes afloat with nervy win against SEC

MI Cape Town kept their qualification hopes alive following their three wicket-win over Sunrisers Eastern Cape. Needing to beat SEC twice in their two remaining games, MICT managed to restrict their opponents to a modest total on a two-paced surface but themselves stumbled during the chase, only scraping by with a narrow win.

The SEC were starved for momentum from the very outset after opting to bat first. Trent Boult had Quinton de Kock edging behind off the very first delivery and while Jonny Bairstow started with promise, striking two fours and a six, he was trapped in front by Kagiso Rabada in the fourth over. Losing Matthew Breetzke in the sixth over left their PowerPlay score reading 37/3.

The swing in momentum only began in the 13th over, by when the Sunrisers had lost a couple more wickets. A 45-run stand between James Coles and Marco Jansen kept SEC on track for a respectable total with the latter's 23-ball 42, including three fours and four sixes, being the standout knock.

MICT managed to wrest back control at the death, dismissing both Coles and Jansen to derail SEC. Only 32 runs were scored off the last five overs as SEC stumbled along to 139/9. Corbin Bosch ended with figures of 4-34 while Boult picked up 3-28.

The chase was far from the straightforward one MICT would've hoped for. With the first two overs yielding only six runs, both openers fell trying to up the ante and MICT finished with an near identical PowerPlay score of 36/2. The game remained delicately balanced when Senuran Muthusamy ended a 33-run stand between Reeza Hendricks and Nicholas Pooran by dismissing the latter in the ninth over.

The scoring rate remained slow and MICT's hopes of earning a bonus point by chasing the total down inside 16 overs started to dwindle. George Linde injected some much needed impetus by striking Adam Milne for a six and two fours in the 14th over but his innings worth 31 off 18 ended just a ball later.

Hendricks' 41 came at a strike rate of only 95.35 but proved a necessary anchor that stabilised MICT's chase. With 26 runs needed off the last four overs and with Hendricks and Pollard at the crease, it seemed like MICT would drift home with ease. But there was some late drama with Pollard, Jason Smith and Hendricks all falling in successive overs.

With four to defend off the last over, Muthusamy ended up overstepping on the second delivery, simplifying MICT's task as they claimed a nervy three wicket win with four deliveries to spare.

Brief Scores: Sunrisers Eastern Cape 139/9 in 20 overs (Marco Jansen 42; Corbin Bosch 4-34) lost to MI Cape Town 140/7 in 19.2 overs (Reeza Hendricks 41; Marco Jansen 2-23) by 3 wickets.