Cape Town - The Cape Cobras are the champions of the 2011 1 Day Cup, after defeating the Warriors by five wickets at Newlands on Friday.

This is the Cobras’ first limited overs trophy since 2006/07, and are following on from their Supersport Series and T20 trophies last season. Cricket South Africa (CSA) CEO, Gerald Majola, extended his warmest congratulations to the winners. 

“Both these franchises have become dominant players in our domestic limited overs competitions and they have again played consistent cricket at a high level.

“In fact, all six franchises have contributed to the excellence of our first domestic competition of the season to be decided. Contests were intense throughout and the battle for qualification for the knock-out phase went right down to the last round of league fixtures.

“There is no doubt that the return to 50 overs cricket has gone down very well with players and fans alike and this should play a significant role in preparing the Proteas’ Test squad well for the next ICC Cricket World Cup in 2015.

“It is very encouraging that a number of players, uncapped at international level, have come to the fore. These include Richard Levi, Craig Thyssen and Jon-Jon Smuts, all of whom played in tonight’s final as well as Dean Elgar, Reeza Hendricks and Marchant de Lange.

“South Africa’s cricketing future is looking particularly bright at the moment.

“I would also like to thank the fans for their support, particularly at tonight’s final. It is wonderful to see a major domestic final being so well supported.”

Although much of the public anticipated a strong Proteas influence in the match, it was the Cobras’ regulars in Charl Langeveldt with the ball and Richard Levi with the bat, who got the home side through to the finish line. Man of the match, Langeveldt finished with figures of 5/45, with Dale Steyn returning 2/58.

Levi played a mature and structured innings, coupled with elegant boundaries and sensible singles, he finished the competition as the Cobras’ leading run-scorer with 508 runs, and has lit up the scene over the weeks, after starting off with the fastest limited-overs century against the Highveld Lions.

His 122-run partnership with Owais Shah 83 (4 fours and 2 sixes ) solidly set up the chase of 243 for victory, which was achieved with nine balls to spare in front of nearly 14 000 spectators at Newlands. Justin Ontong’s cameo of 37 not out off 28 balls was the final blow, with the Warriors bowlers unable to penetrate the strong Cobras batting line-up. Rookie Simon Harmer (2/61) and Rusty Theron (2/54) were the top wicket-takers. 

Justin Kemp, who lauded the 50-over format earlier in the week, won the toss and elected to field, on a near perfect and cloudless Cape Town afternoon. The groundsman predicted a par score of 260 for the first innings and in hindsight that would have been a challenging score had the Warriors put in a more commanding batting performance. The situation could have been a lot worse had the Cobras been more efficient in the field after missing a few opportunities.

The Cobras’ opening duo of Langeveldt and Steyn had the visitors reeling at 33/3, with Langeveldt picking up Arno Jacobs (19) and Colin Ingram (0), in the space of two balls in the seventh over. The recovery was slow, and haltered the visitors from setting an imposing total. Proteas players,  Ashwell Prince (63) and Johan Botha (48) toiled hard to help the Warriors to a score their bowlers could defend, but eventually, 242 and a spirited performance from the Cobras was just not enough.