MI Cape Town are aiming to defend their SA20 title in season four, but will have to do it without rising star Dewald Brevis, who has left for the Pretoria Capitals.
MI Cape Town bowler Kagiso Rabada dismissed the loss of rising talent Dewald Brevis as a major blow for the team, due to their signing of experienced West Indian big hitter Nicholas Pooran, ahead of the start of the SA20 competition on Friday.
Brevis decided to leave MICT after three years with the team and after helping them to the 2025 title during which he made big contributions over the third edition of the tournament and was named the competition’s Rising Star.
He was subject to a bidding war during the SA20 auction a few months ago and was eventually bought by the Pretoria Capitals for a record R16.5 million, and will now have plenty of expectations placed on him by his new team.
Rabada claimed that the loss of Brevis wouldn’t be felt due to the arrival of former West Indies captain Pooran, who will likely fill the top order void left by the rising Proteas T20 star.
“We’ve got Nicholas Pooran, so it’s fine,” said Rabada with a smile.
“I would think that’s pretty like for like (replacement). But Devi (Brevis) is an exciting talent. He decided to go on his own path, which is fine. You’ve gotta move on. We’ve got Nicholas Pooran.”
Defending champs
After it initially took MICT a while to get going in the SA20, with them finishing bottom of the log in the first two seasons, before triumphing in the third, they have been the team to keep hold of the majority of their players heading into the competition’s fourth edition.
No other team retained as many players, with MICT keeping six, namely Rabada, captain Rashid Khan, New Zealand pace bowler Trent Boult, and the Proteas trio of Ryan Rickelton, George Linde and Corbin Bosch.
Rabada believes that this will be key in them attempting to defend their title over the coming month.
“I think that’s been an important value of MI, to keep hold of the core players. Because that allows consistency and it allows us to maintain a good balance in the team,” explained Rabada.
“Familiarity is a key thing, because you need to be able to bond with your teammates. The synergy (between familiar players) goes a long way, and has proven to be successful for MI across the board, so I am super thrilled that this strategy (of keeping hold of the core players) came to life, and now we just have to put the finishing touches to it.”
MICT will open the SA20 tournament against Durban’s Super Giants at Newlands in Cape Town on Friday evening (5:30pm start).
