MI Cape Town vs Paarl Royals Predictions - Rickleton to fire MI Cape Town to first win

Simon Lewis

Editor

Last updated: 03 Jan 2026

Simon Lewis 03 Jan 2026

Share this article

Ryan Rickelton (182 runs, ave 60.66) is 1st on the SA20 runs list.
Lhuan-dre Pretorius scored 98* off 65 balls against MI Cape Town.
Can the defending champs MI Cape Town end their losing streak by beating the Royals to pick up their first win?

Expired

Rassie van der Dussen cuts against New Zealand (Getty Images).

MI Cape Town vs Paarl Royals Predictions

The defending champions are sitting bottom of the table after losing three of their opening four games, with the other match rained-out. The Royals are looking good after back-to-back wins, but I’m backing MI Cape Town as they have such a powerful squad. Home ground advantage will help their quest to turn their fortunes around, but winning the toss and batting first could be the key.

MI Cape Town vs Paarl Royals Predictions
Head-to-Head
MI Cape Town Form
Paarl Royals Form
MI Cape Town vs Paarl Royals Team News

MI Cape Town’s Ryan Rickelton has scored 113, 33 & 36 in his three SA20 innings.
MI Cape Town’s Rassie van der Dussen has scored 94*, 28 & 59 in his last 5 innings.
Paarl Royals’ Lhuan-dre Pretorius scored 62 of his 98* runs against MI Cape Town in boundaries.
Paarl Royals’ Asa Tribe scored 53*, 129* & 51 in his last 6 innings.

Head-to-Head

MI Cape Town have won two and lost three of their last five SA20 matches against Paarl Royals.

MI Cape Town Form

MI Cape Town suffered back-to-back defeats when they lost to the Royals in Paarl by one run.

Rashid Khan picked up two of the three Royals wickets to fall and was the most economical of the MI Cape Town bowlers (econ 7.75). The home side scored more than usual for a first innings in Paarl, which put the MI Cape Town batters under pressure from the start. Kagiso Rabada bowled well again but went for over 45 runs for his four overs for the second match in a row. Trent Boult (1/33, econ 8.25) once again put in a solid performance for his side.

Ryan Rickelton was in the runs again, but it was the form of Rassie van der Dussen that would have excited the MI Cape Town side. The former Proteas star hit five sixes in his 42-ball 59 before holing out. Facing a big defeat at 118/6 in the 15th over, George Linde (20* off 16) and Rashid Khan (35 off 18) added 51 for the seventh wicket to take their side agonisingly close to their first win of the season.

Paarl Royals Form

The Royals secured their second win in three matches when they beat MI Cape Town by 1 run in Paarl.

Lhuan-dre Pretorius (98* off 65 balls) and Asa Tribe (51 off 34) got their partnership out the gates by putting on 100 for the 1st wicket off 10.4 overs against MI Cape Town. David Miller scored 71* to take his side to the win against the Sunrisers, backed by Keagan Lion-Cachet (45 off 40).

Ottneil Baartman (4/51) picked up three key MI Cape Town wickets, while the exciting and experienced Zimbabwe all-rounder Sikandar Raza took 3/27 (econ 6.75) with a dazzling display of bowling variety.

MI Cape Town vs Paarl Royals Team News

Player of the Match Lhuan-dre Pretorius was relieved to get a big score under his belt: “It's just a mindset thing. I was just positive and took the game deep. I sometimes take on boundaries I shouldn't be taking on, but Davey was there to stay calm and rein me in. Been a tough couple of months, hope to now carry it on for the team.”

Royals skipper David Miller was delighted to have picked up back-to-back wins: “It was a terrible start, we trained really hard. We were honest. We have x-factor players and even young ones. I thought we got a great score, great to have Lhu in good flow. We got over the line, which we wanted and we're moving nicely together.”

MICT captain Rashid Khan admitted that his side lost any advantage with the powerplay: “It was a 170-180 wicket. We didn't close out the powerplay great. We restricted them well in the back 10. We lost too many wickets in the middle overs with the bat and got stuck after the 10th over. We have three more games in the next four days and we've got to take good decisions.”

MI Cape Town (possible XI): Rassie van der Dussen, Ryan Rickelton (w), Jason Smith, Nicholas Pooran, Jacques Snyman, Tom Moores, George Linde, Trent Boult, Rashid Khan (c), Kagiso Rabada, Dane Piedt.

Paarl Royals (possible XI): Lhuan-dre Pretorius, Asa Tribe, Rubin Herman, Kyle Verreynne (w), David Miller (c), Sikandar Raza, Delano Potgieter, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Nqobani Mokoena, Bjorn Fortuin, Ottneil Baartman.

Verdict

MI Cape Town v Paarl Royals

I am backing MI Cape Town to win, with Ryan Rickelton to top score.

Ryan Rickelton

Best MI Cape Town Batter

@4.00 - 1 Unit

100% up to R5,000 + 50 spins

Use promo code NEWBONUS

Bet at TicTacBets

Lhuan-dre Pretorius

Best Paarl Royals Batter

@4.33 - 1 Unit

Deposit R3,000 Get R3,000

100% bonus up to R3,000

Your first deposit at 10bet should be of at least R20. Get 100% up to R3,000 Bonus to bet on sports or games. New customers only. 18+ T&Cs and wagering requirements apply. To activate the bonus, select it from the cashier.

Bet at 10bet