Ryan Rickelton stands tall in SA20 opening week as he fights for T20 World Cup spot

MI Cape Town batter Ryan Rickelton’s century at Newlands in the tournament opener highlights the opening week of the fourth edition of the SA20. If there ever was a time for Rickelton to stand up and fight for his career, it is now during the fourth season of the SA20.

Going into the tournament, Rickelton was not in the best of form in white-ball cricket. In fact, the 29-year-old did not get a game in the recently concluded five-match T20I series in India earlier this month. The more experienced wicket-keeper batter Quinton de Kock’s return to international cricket saw Rickelton sit out the entire series, as De Kock showed fine form in India, reminding the world of his dominance in the shortest format of the game.

With De Kock having leapfrogged him in the shortest format of the game in India, Rickelton came into the SA20 campaign under a bit of pressure as he could possibly find himself without a spot in the Proteas squad for next year’s ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in India.

The left-handed batter got his SA20 campaign off to a flying start, as he scored 113 against Durban’s Super Giants in the tournament opener last Friday, sending a statement to Proteas coach Shukri Conrad and selection convenor Patrick Moroney. What was impressive in Rickelton’s century was how he never put his foot off the gas, accelerating all the way through and finding the boundary regularly.

The 29-year-old blasted 11 maximums and five fours, as he put together his second career T20 ton and highest score in T20 cricket. It was a knock that will give the left-hander confidence as he led MI Cape Town to 217, 16 runs short of the target that was set by Durban’s Super Giants.

No other batter other than Rickelton has crossed the three-figure mark in the new season, as the likes of De Kock have come close with back-to-back half-centuries. Rickelton has been fighting to break into international cricket all his career. He has had to wait his turn for a long time as the likes of De Kock and Heinrich Klaasen were ahead of him in the pecking order.

Just as the 29-year-old had finally broken through and secured a permanent spot in the Proteas teams, he lost form and De Kock returned to international cricket in fine form. Through all the adversity, Rickelton continues to find ways to make his presence felt, with the ongoing SA20 being a prime example as the left-hander would have certainly had Conrad and Moroney’s attention.

Rickelton will hope to carry his form into their second home fixture of the tournament, as they are set to host the Pretoria Capitals at Newlands Stadium in Cape Town on Wednesday. The left-hander will lead a side that is yet to win a match in the tournament thus far, having lost the season opener and shared points during their rain-affected fixture at Kingsmead Stadium in Durban.

Rickelton will open the batting against the Capitals, who are also yet to register a victory in the tournament, having lost at home against the Joburg Super Kings and then in Gqeberha against the two-time champions, the Sunrisers Eastern Cape.