Eastern Cape cruise to final

Eastern Cape 129 for 3 beat Western Province Boland 128 for 7 (Strydom 4-11) by 7 wickets
Scorecard

Western Province Boland were asked to bat first by Eastern Cape, as the semi-final stage of the Standard Bank PRO20 Series got underway at Newlands. Graeme Smith and Andrew Puttick gave WPBOL the perfect start, adding 62 in the first eight overs. Both men then fell in the ninth, but a competitive total was still on the cards. Enter Pieter Strydom and Robin Peterson, Eastern Cape's two left-arm spinners. Six overs later WPBOL were 83 for 6 and in tatters.

Strydom had taken 4 for 11 and Peterson 0 for 12 in their four overs. The innings was salvaged by Jacques Kallis, who made 23 off 29, Rory Kleinveldt (18 off 15), and Thami Tsolekile (13 off 4), as WPBOL stuttered to 128 for 7. For Eastern Cape, Monde Zondeki left the field after only bowling four balls with an aggravated quad muscle.

Eastern Cape also made a solid start to their innings, as Steven Pope and Peterson put on 61 in 10 overs before both falling within six runs of each other. Tyron Henderson was sent in as a pinch-hitter and scored 20 off 18 balls, before Mark Boucher and Strydom finished the chase. Both scored at better a run-a-ball to take Eastern Cape through to the final with a full over to spare.