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Paarl - Dane Paterson and Wayne Parnell struck at the death to complete a stunning comeback and give the Cape Cobras a much-needed RAM SLAM T20 win over the Warriors at Boland Park on Friday.
In a game that boasted sublime death bowling by both sides, it was the Cobras’ strikes that proved decisive as Paterson and Parnell took a combined 4 for 11 plus a run-out in the last two overs of the Warriors innings to clinch a five-run win.
Needing just 17 runs from those 12 deliveries with eight wickets in hand and Colin Ackermann on 58 not out the Warriors had looked set fair for victory, only to find themselves spectacularly derailed.
The Cobras had been stymied in similar fashion at the end of their innings, which began breezily when Richard Levi’s 52 took them to the midway point on 82 without loss.
Once Levi had fallen, however, the runs dried up as Andrew Puttick (37) and Lesiba Ngoepe (19) allowed themselves to get bogged down.
With both batsmen dismissed just as the Cobras were looking to begin their late charge, the hosts went from 111 for one after 15 overs to a final score of 140 for six, with Jon-Jon Smuts (2 for 14) and Andrew Birch (2 for 27) the pick of the bowlers.
With Ackermann sharing a 79-run stand for the second wicket with Colin Ingram (33), the Warriors were right on track to chase that down and grab a second straight win in the competition until the captain fell to SA Engelbrecht.
From that point the Cobras were able to squeeze Ackermann and his new partner, Yaseen Vallie, before moving in for the kill.
Paterson (3 for 31) trapped Vallie lbw at the start of the 19th over and then bowled Christiaan Jonker with his very next delivery, but Ackermann’s boundary off the last ball of the over left just 10 required.
Parnell (2 for 15) took the responsibility for the final over and duly held his nerve, dismissing Clyde Fortuin and Ackermann (64) before Birch was run out, ensuring that the Warriors fell short.
