NEW DELHI: MI Cape Town put on strong performances in the last week of SA20 Season 3, defeating the Paarl Royals in Qualifier 1 by batting first and then defeating the Sunrisers Eastern Cape, the reigning champions, in the final at Wanderers to win the coveted title.
In the Powerplay, where bowlers have largely dominated this season and frequently force batting sides into a rebuilding phase, MI Cape Town was by far the best batting team.
Rassie van der Dussen, who played in 11 of MI Cape Town’s 12 games and had a perfect Powerplay record-never being dismissed within the first six overs of the competition while maintaining a Powerplay strike rate of 136-was unquestionably the main batsman in MICT’s early innings dominance.
Ryan Rickelton, who scored 220 runs off 124 balls inside the Powerplay, provided help for Van der Dussen. His strike rate of 177 was the highest of any batter inside the Powerplay, and the only other batter to reach 150 or more was Lhuan-dre Pretorius.
In Qualifier 1 against the Royals, MI Cape Town put up 66-0 in the Powerplay thanks to quick runs by Rickelton to 30 off 17 and van der Dussen to 31 off 19. After Rickelton hammered 33 off 15 in the Powerplay against Sunrisers in the Final, MICT found themselves 52-2 after the first six overs, but Van der Dussen held steady on 19 off 18.
Dewald Brevis had his greatest batting season in Season 3 after a few challenging SA20 campaigns, amassing 291 runs at an average of 48.5 and a strike rate of 184.
Brevis scored 252 off 138 when he came out to bat between Over 7 and Over 12, including two fifties and several high impact scores between 20 and 50, such as 44 off 30 in Qualifier 1 and 38 off 18 in the Final.
When held back, Brevis was unable to leave a lasting impression, reaching double figures in only one of the four innings he came to the crease following the 14th over.
Throughout the competition, Brevis was devastating against pace, hitting at 211 versus the quicks with a good average of 37. He struck at 254 against full deliveries, compared to just 145 against length, when he faced only 11% of deliveries, suggesting that Pacers were playing to his strengths by bowling a full length to him 53% of the time.
Considering the caliber of spinners on exhibit in this season’s competition, he struck at 149 and was removed just once against the spinners.
George Linde, a left-hander, was another important component of the MICT batting lineup. Throughout the competition, he was extremely crucial due to his ability to get going immediately with the bat. He struck at 136 in his first 10 balls at the crease and then increased that strike rate to 232 after facing 10 deliveries.
Linde demonstrated his selflessness as a batter by playing brief, high-impact innings that gave the MICT batting unit momentum. He faced more than 20 balls just once during the tournament.
His ability to counter strong spin units with left-arm spin (his stock trade) was crucial in the playoffs. Linde helped with 26 off 14 in Qualifier 1, which included three sixes off left-arm spinners, and 20 off 14 in the Final, which included two sixes off Liam Dawson.
MI Cape Town frequently set the stage for Delano Potgieter to tee off at the back-end with strong performances at the top of the order and throughout the middle overs.
Potgieter was MI Cape Town’s batting surprise star. He didn’t bowl or bat in two games during the season, so he wasn’t expected to contribute much, but when he did, he was excellent.
During the 2025 season, Potgieter amassed 166 runs in the final five overs of the innings, more than any other batter. The southpaw was equally skilled at facing the short ball (181 strike rate) as he was against anything full (181 strike rate), frequently leaving bowling units unable to come up with a strategy to counter him. In Qualifier 1, MI Cape Town went from what may have been a par total to an above-par total of 199 thanks to a 32 off 17 from Potgieter.
After finishing as the slowest scoring team in the first season and just the fourth-highest scoring death overs team in 2024, MI Cape Town’s final overs scoring rate of 11.26 was by far the highest in the tournament, demonstrating their growth as a batting unit.
Sunrisers Eastern Cape were the only other team with a win rate above 50% this season while batting first, with five victories in nine games. MI Cape Town won six of their eight completed matches when batting first this season, including both the Qualifier 1 and the Final.
MICT recorded only three victories in 11 SA20 2023 and 2024 games when batting first, making it a thorn in their side during the first two editions.
In addition to converting a glaring weakness into a strength, MICT did so in consecutive high-pressure Playoffs games to end as Season 3 champions and bring a statement victory to end the reign of Playoffs experts Sunrisers Eastern Cape. They achieved this by following a clear blueprint as a batting unit and by having strong individuals step up.