Rashid Khan of MI Cape Town celebrates after dismissing Mitchell van Buuren of Paarl Royals during the SA20 match at Boland Park in Paarl on January 21. Picture: Mike Hutchings, Sportzpics, SA20, BackpagePix
Cape Town – MI Cape Town coach Simon Katich has not given up hope that his team can progress to the Betway SA20 play-offs.
MI Cape Town slumped to a 52-run defeat to the Pretoria Capitals before a sold out Newlands on Monday evening. It was a disappointing end to a stretch of home fixtures that had awoken a passion for cricket not seen in the Mother City for many years.
"We knew this was going to be a really big game for us. Last game at home," Katich told the media.
"They have obviously been playing really well. They were coming off a game against Paarl, so it was a tough schedule for them.
"But there is a reason why there are clichés in cricket. Catches win matches. And that's how the game got away from us in the Powerplay.
"I thought we showed a lot of character after that to keep them down to 180-something."
The missed chances within the first two overs hurt MI Cape Town as it allowed the Pretoria Capitals openers Will Jacks and Kusal Mendis to blitz 88 in just seven overs.
It is moments like these that have hampered MI Cape Town's campaign thus far. They also surrendered a match-winning position to the Sunrisers Eastern Cape when captain Rashid Khan conceded 28 runs in an over to let the advantage slip.
Katich, though, remains confident his team can turn around their fortunes as the business end of the competition resumes after the international break.
"We had a good start. We won two out of three games. And then we went to Gqeberha where we hit the Sunrisers at a good time as they lost their first two," he said.
"But you can't take this game for granted. When you are winning, you need to keep winning in these types of competitions because you don't know what's gonna happen. You could be on the wrong side of a toss or you start playing badly.
"We've now lost three out of our last four games which leaves us with a fair bit of hard work to do.
"We have to win our last three. It's not an ideal position but we're definitely not out of it."
The second leg of the tournament is scheduled for the Highveld with MI Cape Town set to face Joburg Super Kings at the Wanderers and Pretoria Capitals in Centurion in two of their remaining matches. Their remaining match is against Durban's Super Giants at Kingsmead.
This could prove to be a pivotal factor in getting their youthful batting line-up firing. Although there have been flashes of their talent, the likes of Dewald Brevis, Ryan Rickelton and Grant Roelofsen have found it challenging on the coastal wickets of Cape Town, Paarl and Gqeberha.
But a return home to the Wanderers (Rickelton), Centurion (Brevis) and Kingsmead (Roelofsen) could just be the boost MI Cape Town's campaign requires.