MiWay T20 Challenge
Cobras crowned champions
2011-03-18 21:26
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Cape Town - The Cobras won their second title in three years when they beat the Warriors by 12 runs in the Standard Bank Pro20 final played at Newlands on Friday night.
A superb opening partnership of 88 by Richard Levi and Herschelle Gibbs saw their side home as the Warriors fell short, despite a debut half-century by 21 year-old Kelly Smuts.
Batting second, the Warriors faced a challenging target of 167 and were under pressure from the start as tight bowling kept them well below the required run rate.
No batsman got a start for the visitors as Ashwell Prince (21) was run out just as he was finding the middle of the bat and captain Davy Jacobs, lbw to Vernon Philander, went for 13 off 24 precious balls.
Claude Henderson got the big scalp of Mark Boucher (4), who advanced down the track and saw his middle stump removed.
Henderson, at age 37, finished with the economical figures of 14/1 off his four overs and was named Master Blaster Bowler of the match for his fine effort.
Not to be outdone, Justin Kemp took two wickets off two balls when he removed the stumps of Jon-Jon Smuts (25) and had Craig Thyssen (0) adjudged lbw off the next ball.
Only Kelly Smuts (56 not out), younger brother of Jon-Jon, and Justin Kreusch put up any resistance as they added 82 runs off 42 balls for the sixth wicket.
Named Master Blaster Batsman, (Kelly) Smuts also made a century on debut in the Supersport Series earlier in the season.
Needing 26 runs off the last over, he and Kreusch put on 15 runs before Kreusch (29) finally fell to the bowling of Johann Louw.
The Cobras had an excellent start as Levi and Gibbs galloped along at 10 runs an over.
Gibbs seemed content to play the role of anchor and contributed just 11 runs when they reached their half-century partnership, off 29 balls.
Gibbs was dropped by Mark Boucher on 21 when a thin edge off Lyall Meyer bounced out of the wicketkeeper's gloves.
It took the medium pace of Kreusch to stem the flow as Gibbs (35) played onto his stumps, attempting the sweep shot.
Levi (45) was out off the next ball, caught at long-on by Jon-Jon Smuts off the bowling of Nicky Boje. He hit two fours and three sixes in his 34-ball knock.
After such a superb start, the Cobras then found themselves wobbling at 110/4 after another two quick dismissals. Justin Ontong was caught at cover by Davy Jacobs to give veteran fast bowler Makhaya Ntini his only wicket of the match, and Dane Vilas was Kreusch's second victim when he was caught at backward point by Craig Thyssen.
Owais Shah and Vernon Philander added 36 runs together at the end of the Cobras innings with Shah unbeaten on 39 (26 balls, 4x4s) and Philander on 17.
Kreusch was the pick of the bowlers for the Warriors with his 2/23.
While the Cobras go home with the silverware, both franchises will represent South Africa in the Champions' League in India later this year.
Scoreboard:
Cape Cobras innings
R. Levi c J-J Smuts b Boje 45
H. Gibbs b Kreusch 35
O. Shah not out 39
J. Ontong c Jacobs b Ntini 6
D. Vilas c Thyssen b Kreusch 5
J. Kemp b J-J Smuts 6
V. Philander not out 17
Extras (b-5, lb-1, w-7) 13
Total (for five wickets, 20 overs) 166
Fall of wickets: 1-88, 2-88, 3-96, 4-110, 5-130.
Did not bat: M. Rippon, J. Louw, C. Henderson, C. Langeveldt.
Bowling: J-J Smuts 3-0-17-1, Ntini 3-0-32-1, Theron 4-0-36-0 (w-1), Meyer 2-0-16-0 (w-1), Kreusch 4-0-23-2, Boje 4-0-26-1 (w-1).
Warriors innings
A. Prince run out (Ontong) 21
D. Jacobs lbw Philander 13
J-J Smuts b Kemp 25
M. Boucher b Henderson 4
K. Smuts not out 56
C. Thyssen lbw Kemp 0
J. Kreusch b Louw 29
N. Boje not out 1
Extras (w-5) 5
Total (for six wickets, 20 overs) 154
Fall of wickets: 1-26, 2-42, 3-59, 4-71, 5-71, 6-153.
Did not bat: L. Meyer, J. Theron, M. Ntini.
Bowling: Langeveldt 4-0-34-0 (w-4), Louw 4-0-41-1, Philander 4-0-25-1, Henderson 4-0-14-1, Rippon 1-0-11-0, Kemp 3-0-29-2.
Master Blaster batsman: Kelly Smuts
Master Blaster bowler: Claude Henderson
Cape Cobras won by 12 runs to win the Pro20 - MWP