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CAPE TOWN: Ryan Rickelton scored an unbeaten 94 and muscled home side MI Cape Town to a resounding eight-wicket victory over Paarl Royals in the 11th match of the SA20 here on Friday.
Put into bat first, Paarl Royals posted 172/8 on the board despite a flying start.
Jason Roy came out all guns blazing for the Royals as he attacked Kagiso Rabada in the third over, smashing three consecutive sixes and a boundary.
Roy looked to dominate Rabada in the fifth over also as he smashed the right-arm pacer for two back-to-back sixes but faltered on the third delivery and handed over a straight-forward catch to Rassie van der Dussen at short fine leg.
He smashed five sixes and a boundary on his way to 14-ball 38.
Coming out to bat at number three, Wihan Lubbe (1) failed to bank on the flourishing start and perished in the next over.
Skipper David Miller (20) then joined Jos Buttler at the crease and the duo added 43 runs for the third wicket before both perished in successive overs, causing the Royals to slip to 107/4 in 12.1 overs.
The Capitals then lost their way towards a big total and only added 65 runs for the loss of four wickets in the remaining overs.
For MI Cape Town, Thomas Kaber picked up three wickets while Sam Curran, Kagiso Rabada, George Linde and Olly Stone struck out a batter apiece.
Chasing 173, MI Cape Town comfortably knocked off the winning runs for the loss of just two wickets and 19 balls to spare, courtesy of Ryan Rickelton’s brilliant knock.
The left-handed batter smashed seven boundaries and six sixes on his way to an unbeaten 94 which came in just 52 deliveries.
He gave MI Cape Town a commanding start when he put together an 80-run partnership with Rassie van der Dussen, who scored 41 off 28 deliveries with the help of four boundaries and two sixes.
The eight-wicket victory lifted MI Cape Town to third in SA20 standings with nine points in four matches while Paarl Royals remained second with 13 points in as many matches.