It’s almost farcical how well Ryan Rickelton and Ottniel Baartman have played in the SA20, since both were not picked for the Proteas T20 World Cup squad.
On Thursday evening, Baartman in the colours of Paarl Royals (PR) broke the hearts of Pretoria Capitals (PC) fans as he destroyed their batting lineup at SuperSport Park.
Baartman returned figures of 5/16, which were far and away the best bowling figures this season of the competition. His four overs included a hat-trick, which was just the second in SA20 history after Lungi Ngidi first achieved the feat last week.
Baartman’s figures were also the fourth best-ever in SA20 history.
Baartman Leads Wicket-Takers with 16 Wickets; Rickelton Tops Run-Scorers with 324 Runs Despite Proteas Snub
It left Baartman’s wicket-tally on 16 from just five matches, for an average of 9.44 and safely on top of the wicket-takers list.
Meanwhile, Rickelton continues to lead the run-scoring charts for this season.
Having scored his first hundred in the SA20 on the opening day of the competition on Boxing Day for MI Cape Town (MICT), Rickelton’s name was missing from the Proteas T20 World Cup squad announced a few days later.
That setback did not hinder Rickelton’s insatiable appetite for runs this season though, as he added another century to his growing tally and is the leading run-scorer so far.
In eight matches, Rickelton has compiled 324 runs at an average of 54 and a strike-rate of 167.
Interestingly, the man who overtook Rickelton in the Proteas pecking order—Quinton de Kock—is second on the run-scoring list with 272. De Kock, who recommitted to the Proteas, has also turned in a number of consistent knocks, with three 50s for an average of 54 at a strike rate of 160 for Sunrisers Eastern Cape (SEC).
@Michael_Sherman
IOL Sport
