It was the Herschelle Gibbs and Richard Levi show at Newlands on Sunday as the Cobras’ openers helped the home side win the first leg of their semifinal against the Nashua Titans with ease.
The Titans won the toss and chose to bowl in the blazing Cape Town sunshine and Jacques Rudolph and Henry Davids looked in good touch as they notched up a fine partnership of 45. Johann Louw, however, had other ideas and he sent Rudolph stumps cartwheeling towards the end of the sixth over. He struck again just two balls later to send Davids on his way and leave the Titans looking shaky.
Makhaya Ntini turned back the hands of time as he rocked the Warriors into the final of the Standard Bank Pro 20 Competition. The Warriors, defending a meagre 121 under lights, flexed their bowling muscle and Ntini was their leading act.
The Cobras have a lot to be grateful for. In Justin Kemp they have a flamboyant frontman who leads with both bat and ball; they have wicked bowling skills in players like Rory Kleinveldt and Vernon Philander; and they have the potential for huge scores, thanks to gutsy batsmen like Henry Davids and Andrew Puttick.
But more than anything, they have a loyal and unwavering home crowd, who seem determined to see their team win, no matter what.
The Cobras got their title-retaining season off to a bang with a solid 42 run win this evening against The Lions at Newlands, Cape Town. The crowd was brought to their feet numerous times as the Cobras ended their innings on a high with big "Rockstar Master Blaster" Richard Levi hitting 43 runs off just 20 balls in an unended innings that included three 4s and three 6s. Robert Flylinck was the pick of the Lions bowlers with figures of 4 for 31after his allotted overs, which included the big wicket of Gibbs who hit a star-studded 53 from 32 balls.
In what was effectively a quarter-final the Titans met the Cape Cobras at Sahara Park, Newlands this afternoon. The Cobras won the toss and elected to bat.
