An impressive combined bowling performance by Cobras, led by allrounder
Justin Kemp's four wickets, took them to a 10-wicket win against Knights in Paarl. After bowling Knights out for 94, opener
Richard Levi struck a quick, unbeaten half-century to take them home in ten overs.
Cobras, after being asked to field, put their opponents under pressure from the first over itself through an effective spell of swing bowling in helpful conditions by seamers Charl Langeveldt and Johann Louw. Langeveldt struck in the first over, inducing an edge to the keeper off his third delivery. By the seventh over, two more wickets had fallen and Knights were struggling at 14 for 3.
Kemp started to make his presence felt when he was introduced in the 12th over. He immediately dismissed No. 3 Rilee Rossouw, and then ran through the middle order to crush the chances of a fightback by Knights. By the 28th over, Knights had lost their eighth wicket, that of Johann van der Wath. This was Knights' lowest total in List A cricket.
Openers Levi and Andrew Puttick played aggressively to go past the target in the 11th over. Levi scored 52 off 33 deliveries, with eight fours and two sixes.
With the emphatic win, Cobras gained a bonus point.
In a tight contest in Port Elizabeth, Warriors put on a spirited fight in their chase of 274, but lost by four runs to Titans. Middle-order batsman
Craig Thyssen scored 46 off 35 balls and was guiding his team towards the target in the final overs, but needing 6 off 2 deliveries for victory, he was caught at long-on. Makhaya Ntini, the No.11, was run out off the final ball. Left-arm seamer
Rowan Richards bowled a miserly final over, conceding three runs.
Warriors began their chase poorly, losing opener Michael Price for a duck off the second delivery of the innings. At 90 for 4, the captain and wicketkeeper
Davy Jacobs, who scored 63, and Wayne Parnell put on a 98-run stand to keep their team's hopes alive.
Four wickets then fell quickly to peg them back. At 206 for 8, the contest looked to be over, but Thyssen, with a quick, responsible knock, almost took them to the target. He dominated the strike, with the No. 10 batsman Basheeru-Deen Walters at the other end. Needing 18 off 12, and then 9 off the last six, Warriors fell short in a tight last over by Richards.
Titans' innings followed a different pattern. After being reduced to 9 for 2 through seamer Andrew Birch's strikes, they reached 273 thanks to two big partnerships. Opener
Heino Kuhn added 64 with captain Martin van Jaarsveld. But the bedrock of the innings was the 129-run partnership between Albie Morkel and
Farhaan Behardien, who fell for 99.
Kuhn, who had scored a century against Knights in Centurion a week ago, is now among the highest run-getters of the competition.