Rassie van der Dussen: MI Cape Town have taken lessons from previous SA20 seasons

The franchise did not cover themselves in glory in the first two editions of the tournament, finishing in last place in 2023 and 2024.

The team from Newlands have already won two of their four matches this campaign to sit in second place in the league standings.

MI Cape Town silenced the home crowd at St George's Park as they beat defending champions Sunrisers Eastern Cape in the opening encounter before going down to the Joburg Super Kings at the Wanderers.

The men in blue had a mixed bag in the two Cape derbies this week, beating Paarl Royals at Newlands before going down in the return fixture at Boland Park.

Proteas international Van der Dussen has been with the franchise since the first campaign and said the senior players, including himself, has rallied around captain and Afghanistan spinner Rashid Khan.

"It feels different in the squad, there's a different vibe," Van der Dussen said. "When you do so badly you learn what not to do. We really took those lessons of the first two years to heart.

"It's always tough for an overseas captain coming in, but we made a conscious decision - myself, Colin (Ingram), KG (Rabada), Dane Piedt and some of the senior players - to say, we're going to assist this guy as much as we can.

"This year, there was a really clear plan of ours to get the communication better, to help Rash out and just be a lot better in actually all aspects than we were in the last few years."

The 35-year-old batter has been in decent form at the top of the order so far in the tournament, hitting scores of 43 and 91 not out in his last two innings.

He has also seen plenty of younger players step up and make a name for themselves in the SA20 and credited the talent pipeline in South Africa for "producing world-class cricketers".

Van der Dussen added: "As a senior player, it pushes you to never be complacent but also it shows you the talent we have in our system coming through," he said.

"There's a lot of people, especially from outside our borders, who are very critical of our system and the way our CSA handles it.

"But it shows you the best players will always come through. It doesn't matter what age they are. Obviously something is working. You've got to give credit where credit is due and we're still producing world-class cricketers."

MI Cape Town will look for their second victory at home when they take on Joburg Super Kings at Newlands on Saturday.

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