Their yet-to-determined opposition will all be in action over the next two days with two-time defending champions Sunrisers Eastern Cape to play Joburg Super Kings in Wednesday's Eliminator and the winner to take on Royals in Qualifier 2 on Thursday.

Law 47.1 states that "any delivery, which passes or would have passed, without pitching, above waist height of the striker standing upright at the popping crease, is unfair. Whenever such a delivery is bowled, the umpire shall call and signal no ball."

Brevis' front foot was outside the popping crease and he was not standing upright at the time of the shot but despite Paarl captain David Miller's protests, the call stood. Brevis hit the next ball, a free-hit for six and Galiem was taken out of the attack in his next over after delivering another waist-high full toss which was judged a no-ball. That delivery also went for four. Mitch Owen completed the over, which ultimately cost 27 runs. MICT scored 60 runs in their last four overs and Brevis finished unbeaten on 44. After 15.5 overs in Paarl's chase, their score was 136 for 6 which illustrates how impactful the no-ball and what followed was on the result.

Miller was visibly upset on-field and when Galiem addressed at the post-match press conference, he confirmed that Royals did not feel the ball was high enough to be judged a no-ball. "That is obviously tight but that's the match officials, they have to make the decisions," he said. "it could have gone either way. We did feel like he was in a bent position and the shot was out in front of him as well, so potentially if that ball carried on going and it was in line with his body it perhaps could have been a touch lower. It was a touch and go and on another day that's given and everything changes from there, but again I think we could have still been better in certain situations of the game."

One of those situations was Galiem's no-ball in his next over, and he did not hesitate to acknowledge that. "I just misexecuted those two deliveries," he said. "Such fine margins as well. I felt really confident after my first over as well and I just wanted to hit a yorker and I just didn't want to miss on the short side. I misplaced the ball a little bit."

He wasn't the only one to misstep. Another tactical question arose when Galiem was taken out of the attack and Royals, despite having what Miller called "enough bowlers to pick from" in the post-match television interview chose not to use Andile Phehlulwayo. On the slower St George's Park surface, his medium-pace may have been handy, but Phehlukwayo has not bowled at all in the tournament, even though two of his three appearances have come in the absence of Lungi Ngidi.

While Paarl have lost their last three games, MICT have not lost in seven matches, including a no-result, and are living up to their hype as the franchise with some of the biggest signings. "We have always had the players, but now I think we got together." Rabada said. "The senior group had a lot to do with it in terms of pulling everyone together. There is also a familiarity between the players. That hunger is there. The hunger has always been there, but I think we just got together more as a team to put in those crucial performances at crucial times. I think that is what is getting us over the line."

Given the run of form they've had, they go into Saturday's final as favourites, irrespective of who they play, and some would say the trophy looks like theirs to lose.