Jozi Stars dominated their way through to a win over Cape Town Blitz by eight wickets at PPC Newlands on Sunday, December 16, to clinch the inaugural Mzansi Super League (MSL) title.
On a significantly sluggish pitch in Cape Town, Stars ran through the Blitz batting line-up on the back of Kagiso Rabada (1/16), Duanne Olivier (2/32) and Beuran Hendricks (2/21) before eventually restricting them to an extremely modest first inning score of 113/7 from their 20 overs.
While they were faced with good spells from Dan Christian (1/11) and Simon Harmer (0/14) too, Stars got a solid knock from Rassie van der Dussen as he struck an efficient 54-ball 55 to take his team home towards victory with still 15 deliveries left in the game.
Despite choosing to bat first, each of the Blitz's batsmen struggled to get going on a big night with an in-form Quinton de Kock also disappointing having been dismissed by an excellent catch by Reeza Hendricks off Beuran Hendricks for just five.
Although, Dawid Malan (17) and Kyle Verreynne (23) tried to resurrect the innings for a while but they eventually failed to bring the much-required momentum into the innings. Also Pakistani duo Mohammad Nawaz (3) and Asif Ali (4) perished in no time as the home team succumed to 48 for 4.
This is when captain Farhaan Behardien (23), Ferisco Adams (12*) and Dale Steyn (15*) chipped with cameos to take their side past three-figure mark.
Chasing the easy target, Stars lost Ryan Rickelton early for just six by recovered through a magnificent 86-run stand between Reeza Hendricks and Van der Dussen.
Hendricks fell to Malusi Siboto for 41-ball 33 but Van der Dussen stayed till the very end as captain Dane Vilas sealed the deal with a boundary.
Van der Dussen and Olivier were later awarded honours for being the leading batsman and bowler of the tournament respectively. Gihahn Cloete of the Tshwane Spartans was named the best fielder while the MVP award went to the Blitz’s Quinton de Kock.
(Inputs from CricketNext)
