Sherfane Rutherford's All-Round Performance Hands Capitals Their First Win

Sherfane Rutherford led Pretoria Capitals to their first win of the SA20 Season 4 with a dominant 85-run victory over MI Cape Town. He delivered a match-winning all-round performance, scoring an unbeaten 47 off 20 balls and taking 4/24 with the ball. Dewald Brevis also shone, smashing 36 off 13 balls, and Wihan Lubbe anchored the innings with 60 runs. It's a day short of ten weeks since Kagiso Rabada last played a match, in the Rawalpindi Test, and concerns over his readiness for a T20 World Cup that is just five weeks away were growing. They shouldn't have been. Rabada came back with a trademark back-of-a-length ball that beat Bryce Parsons as he tried to glance it fine and then followed up with a fuller ball that shaped away from Parsons' attempted drive and nicked him off. The rest of Rabada's over was near-perfect as he varied his lengths, surprised Will Smeed with a bouncer, and ended up conceding only two runs. In his second over, Hope hit a slower ball for a huge six but Rabada pulled it back well as his first two overs cost 12. He was brought back in the 16th over, once the Hope-Lubbe stand was broken and with Lubbe keen to up the ante. He top-edged Rabada over slip but then tried to swipe across the line and top-edged over mid-on. Rabada charged back to try and take the catch but stood down when seeing Reeza Hendricks, who charged in from long-on, was in better position. He could have a had a fourth and a fifth but Corbin Bosch put Brevis down - a difficult, swirling chance - and Nicholas Pooran dropped Rutherford in the final over. Rabada finished with figures of 2 for 48, Key Highlights: Rutherford's Heroics: Unbeaten 47 and 4/24 with the ball Brevis' Blitz: 36 off 13 balls Lubbe's Solid Knock: 60 runs MI Cape Town's Collapse: 135 all out Pretoria Capitals 220 for 5 (Lubbe 60, Rutherford 47*, Rabada 2-48) beat MI Cape Town 135 (Rickelton 33, Rutherford 4-24, Maharaj 3-28) by 85 runs