It was a day off at the office for Cape Town South African and Mumbai Indian pacer Kagiso Rabada during the SA20 2024 match against Paarl Royals. Rabada made 14 runs and was hit for 42 runs in 3 overs. Rabada was smashed for 24 runs in one over by Royals opener Jason Roy during the third over of the first innings.
However, while chasing 173 runs, MI Cape Town were able to register an 8-wicket win at the Sahara Park Newlands in Cape Town. After MI Cape Town cruised to a comfortable victory against the Royals, MI captain Kieron Pollard shamelessly mocked the right-arm pacer.
In a video uploaded by Mumbai Indians Cape Town on ‘X’, team captain Kieron Pollard praised the players’ performance in the match. At the beginning of the video, Pollard was seen praising the efforts of all the players in the team, however, Pollard, while pointing at Rabada, stated that the pacer would get another 3 or 4 sixes in the next over.
Kieron Pollard makes a funny criticism of Kagiso Rabada
Kieron Pollard said: “Congratulations to the boys. The resilience we have shown in the field, KG (Rabada). After that, looking in my direction, he says, “Get off, I want it.” I had no choice but to throw it at you. I thought another three, four, five sixes were waiting for you (laughs).”
“We got the win and that’s what we set out to do.” – Kieron Pollard
‘Nuff said. 🔥#OneFamily #MICapeTown #SA20 pic.twitter.com/vBUe85KPr3
– MI Cape Town (@MICapeTown) January 20, 2024
Coming back to the match, Paarl Royals posted a score of 172/8 while batting first at Sahara Park Newlands. Openers Jason Roy and Jos Buttler added 62 runs for the first wicket in which Roy scored 38 runs off 14 balls and smashed a total of 5 sixes. Butler, on the other hand, scored 46 runs off 31 balls. David Miller and Van Burren made cameos of 20 and 28 runs respectively.
Thomas Kaber was the pick of the MI Cape Town bowlers and finished the innings with 3 wickets. Sam Curran, Olly Stone, George Linde and Kagiso Rabada picked up 1 wicket each.
Chasing the target, Rassie van der Dussen and Ryan Rickleton added 80 runs for the first wicket and hit all the Paarl Royals players all over the ground. While van der Dussen backed up for 41 runs off 28 balls, Dewald Brevis scored 10 runs off 7 balls.
However, it was Ryan Rickleton who scored 94* runs off 52 balls. He hit a total of 7 fours and 6 sixes throughout his innings. In the end, MI Cape Town were able to chase down the target with over 3 overs to spare.
MI Cape Town recorded their second win of the tournament and move into fourth place. On the other hand, after Durban Super Giants lost their match against Sunrisers Eastern Cape, Paarl Royals currently top the table.
The SA20 has made a name for itself as one of the biggest leagues in the world and its upcoming second season promises to be even more popular.