The much anticipated inaugural SA20 kicked off at the majestic Newlands as MICT hosted their neighbours Paarl Royals.

Walking through the stands soaking up the immaculate vibe as Newlands was looking as gorgeous as ever being packed to capacity.

Seeing fans buzzing, and kids running around, it felt good to not see empty stands, although I did not enjoy bumping into people while on my walks. But the crowd certainly did not disappoint and neither did the DJ (yes I found myself moving along to the awesome tunes) especially when Sweet Caroline was blaring through the speakers.

Master KG kicked off things with his hit number Jerusalema which has the crowd on its feet and the DJ definitely got the memo throughout the day as Newlands was properly buzzing.

Fans came in their numbers to support MICT and they definitely left happy with their team claiming a comprehensive victory by 8 wickets. They made light work of the meagre total set by their arch-rivals and chased it down inside 16 overs. It was the Dewald Brevis show as he entertained the faithful with a blistering half-century.

Paarl Royals got off to a circumspect start as Jofra Archer struck in his first over but Buttler managed to salvage the damage and get them to a decent total at the end of the power play.

Jos Buttler top scored for the side with a 42-ball 51 despite wickets tumbling and the skipper contributed with a vital 42.

The Cape side had no mercy as bowler after bowler kept coming at the batters and pegging them back, picking up regular wickets to restrict the visiting side to 142-7

It was a pretty straightforward run-chase for the home side as Brevis and Rickelton got them off to a perfect start before the latter got out for 42. The former struck a brilliant 70 not out which included four 4’s and five 6’s.