MI CAPE TOWN UPBEAT AHEAD OF CAPITALS TIE AFTER BACK-TO-BACK WINS

MI CAPE Town head into their SA20 clash against Pretoria Capitals at 5.30pm on Monday with renewed belief, and at the heart of that revival is Ryan Rickelton.

Fresh off klapping a 60-ball 113 that powered MI Cape Town to 234/3 and a much-needed 36-run win against Joburg Super Kings on Saturday that kept the defending champions in the race for the playoffs, Rickelton struck a tone of relief, optimism and quiet confidence that underlines the stakes of today’s game.

Rickelton wysed: “We are definitely taking the right steps. We’ve got two [wins] now. We need to try and make it three or four in a row. We’ve got some tough opposition. Pretoria Capitals are a very good side. Still a lot of work to do.

“If we can brush up on a few areas and keep getting better, hopefully we can try and win a few more.”

Rickelton revealed that MI Cape Town’s turnaround to win back-to-back matches after they were winless in their first five outings has been driven by honest conversations within the leadership group.

He added: “We always have our strategy meetings with the senior guys and the staff. The leadership group spoke about what it would take to turn around.

“We worked out that if we are to win this tournament we had six or seven games and we need seven man of the matches, which would come from the seven of us.

“It’s just trying to be sharper and just make the right decisions. We have been poor in different stages of the tournament in putting together a complete game.

“If we are going to win this tournament, six or seven of us have to come to the party. We are taking the right steps.

“We have such great players in our group. It’s just trying to improve what we are trying to do, making sure we are doing the right things and guys are putting in big individual performances.”

Rickelton also wants to put his T20 World Cup omission behind him and just focus on playing well for MI Cape Town.

Rickelton said: “You come back home, you experience your family and friends around you, you actually get to enjoy South Africa and being home.

“Jumping from team to team also gives you a new perspective. This team probably gets the best out of me; it frees me to play the way I want to play, and it takes me to the level I want to operate at 90 percent of the time.”