Ryan Rickelton’s century in vain as MI Cape Town lose to DSG

The defeat came with a bitter-sweet moment for MI opening batter Ryan Rickelton, who recorded the first century of this season in the opening game after ending on 113 in 63 deliveries. He says while DSG posted a 232 first innings total, they still believed they were able to successfully chase it in front of their home fans.

Rickelton explained what the strategy was at the change of innings, and how they planned to get over the line with a big score in front of them.

He says instead of actually trying to score 100, the aim is to just make an impact and the century is a bonus.

"I think you're not trying to make a big score I guess, that's how you go about a chase like this in my opinion. You try to have more of an impact on the game. If my partner and myself each face 18 balls in the first six overs up front, and both of us are on 25-30 runs then we are off to a good start. That's the base where we play from."

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While Rickelton was not part of the Proteas squad in the recent T20 International series in India, he knows the SA20 is an opportunity to try and force himself into the reckoning for the T20 World Cup early next year.

However, the 29-year-old says he will not play the tournament with that in mind.

"Not at all, in all honesty. I've just made peace with where I am at the moment, I'm just trying to find my feet with the bat again and contribute towards this team. Whatever happens, happens. This tournament is obviously a great platform, but I'm not really thinking about the World Cup."