DURBAN: When the showers returned after the powerplay with Joburg Super Kings cruising at 69/2 at Newlands on Tuesday evening, it seemed like MI Cape Town's campaign would be all but over. Having lost four of their first five games, apart from a washout, the defending champions were in trouble, especially in front of a packed home crowd that had braved the rain to stay on and cheer for them.
It had been that kind of a season for MI Cape Town. They lost a close match to Paarl Royals away before surrendering at home and desperately needed to get off the mark. Another loss on Tuesday would have meant their hopes of making the play-off would have become slimmer. The rain did not help either as they waited on, hoping, praying they get a chance to hit the ground running.
When the chance came along, the contest was reduced to 12 overs per side, and JSK were not going to give in without a fight. They posted 123/7 in 12 overs with skipper Faf du Plessis leading the way (44 off 21 balls). For MICT, they needed the stars to come to the party. And that did not happen for the most part on Tuesday. Ryan Rickleton, Reeza Hendricks, and George Linde all fell cheaply but Nicholas Pooran (33 off 15) and Rassie van der Dussen (35) kept them in the game.
Even then, the climb was steep in the last three. In came Jason Smith, the 31-year-old local lad who had earned his maiden World Cup call-up and will be on the flight to India with the South African team. Smith smashed 22 runs from just seven balls to steer MICT to much-needed victory.
The relief in the aftermath was visible when Pooran addressed the media. "It's a relief to get some points on the board to be honest, but even for myself I'm really happy that I could contribute," he said. "It's four games, I haven't scored any runs, so obviously my potential, and that's one of the reasons why we're in this situation as well if I'm being really honest. But again, the tournament is not over for us; we believe it just started for us, and we hope we can get some momentum here going on the road. We just want to take it game by game," he added.
Pooran was all praise for Smith, who secured MICT's first win. "He hits the ball like a West Indian for sure," Pooran smiled, before adding, "But there's a lot for him to learn as well. It's a T20 game, and it's really inconsistent. It's inconsistent form, and that's something we as players have to accept, and we are going to get criticised a lot for our performances. But for him, the most important thing is to learn as fast as possible. He just got selected for the World Cup heading into Indian conditions, which is really favourable to him, where there's a lot of spin going to be ball. He has everything that can make him do well in those conditions."
Still at the bottom of the table, MICT have four games and will have to win all their remaining games to have a chance at making the play-offs. They play JSK at Johannesburg on Saturday.
Brief scores (DLS): JSK 123/7 in 12 ovs (Du Plessis 34; Bosh 3/24) lost to MICT 128/6 in 11.2 ovs (Pooran 33, Smith 22).
