Dewald Brevis starred in an undefeated 41-ball 70 to help MI Cape Town get off to a winning start in the SA20 2023 tournament opener against Pearl Royals. After confining the Royals to a modest 142/7 despite Jos Butler and captain David Miller’s 42 half-centuries, Brevis finished the chase with a smashing start and a 90-run opening streak to finish off a comfortable eight. Won a wicket win. Earn bonus points.
Jofra Archer batted in the opening, his third inning for the Royals, after MI asked to bat first. However, Butler led the recovery with a 36-run streak with fellow Englishman Jason Roy. A few quick shots saw the Royals come back again before Butler joined Miller to cut them down to 56/3 in 10 overs. The pair put in 48 runs into the fifth wicket stand in 6.1 overs to propel the team past 100 runs. But the opener was put away after missing a full-throw scoop shot by Ollie Stone, who had just passed half a century. Miller and Eoin Morgan tried to up the ante by taking Sam Curran to the cleaners for 6 each in 18 overs, but Archer returned in the 19th and picked back-to-back wickets, again putting the Royals on the back foot. I put Morgan ran out the last ball and he was about to sneak in an extra run when the Royals finished with 142 on a pitch that didn’t seem conducive to shooting.
Brevis knocked him 41 balls and he smashed the idea with five sixes and four more borders. Brevis’ opening partner Ryan Rickelton let the runs flow with a border hat-trick that welcomed Ramon Simmons’ attack in three overs. Brevis joined the party on the final power play, taking on Cody Yusuf for 6 and 4 in a massive runover of 16. Brevis then tablaid he handled similarly to Shamsi, and after nine overs, without a loss, he made his MI 72.
Simmons returned on the other side of the timeout, where Rickelton chopped him for six, but responded with a perfect Yorker to embarrassingly end his half-century opener bid for eight. But Brevis continued to attack and scored his six in each of his next three overs, keeping MI chasing that bonus his points. Sam Curran played in a 16-ball appearance worth 20, fending off Simmons’ 4 and 6 in 14 overs before Yusuf caught him on the ropes. Undeterred, Brevis turned into another massive over for MI, off a 6, 4, 4 back-to-back ball to nearly seal the chase.
Brief scores: Parl Royals 142/7 in 20 overs (Jos Buttler 51, David Miller 42; Jofra Archer 3-27) lost to MI Cape Town 143/2 in 15.3 overs (Dewald Brevis 70*, Ryan Rickelton 42; Ramon Simmons 1-32) by 8 wickets.