Capitals roar to the top of Betway SA20 table after crushing victory over MI Cape Town

Sherfane Rutherford powered Pretoria Capitals to the top of the Betway SA20 table on Monday evening at Centurion. 

Rutherford has been in excellent form throughout the competition, and it continued with another rapid 53 off 27 balls. The West Indian smashed three boundaries and five sixes to lift the Capitals to 185/6 before the Capitals delivered an excellent bowling and fielding effort to restrict MI Cape Town to 132/7. 

It earned the Capitals a 53-run victory along with the invaluable bonus point that saw them overtake Sunrisers Eastern Cape at the summit of the table.

The Capitals have now won three matches in a row since their 10-wicket defeat to Sunrisers Eastern Cape last week and they are certainly building momentum ahead of the playoffs next week. 

MI Cape Town had started the contest well with the ball by keeping the Capitals in check until the 13th over.

George Linde (1/19) and Kagiso Rabada (2/34) had stuck to their plans upfront, but the defending champions’ death bowling left plenty to be desired. 

Equally, the catching was terrible on the night with the double drop of Rutherford and Dewald Brevis (34 off 19 balls, 1x4, 3x6) off Corbin Bosch certainly proved costly with the pair adding 69-run partnership off just 34 balls for the fifth wicket. 

In contrast, the Capitals’ catching was excellent with Brevis leading the way with two brilliant catches to earn Gideon Peters (3/32) a double-wicket maiden over, while Jordon Cox and Lungi Ngidi also took splendid catches in the outfield. 

MI Cape Town’s run-chase fell away during the middle period when the visitors lost four wickets for just 11 runs.

Reeza Hendricks tried valiantly to deny the Capitals the bonus point with an undefeated 68 off 50 balls (4x4, 4x6), but ultimately failed as the home side roared to top of the table.