This is Dools. Although Dools has lived in Cape Town for about a year now, he told me that last night was his very first time at Sahara Park Newlands. Dools, I'm so glad you picked THIS game of all games to be your first, because now I can be absolutely sure that it won't be your last.

Where shall I start? Well, like any good Capetonian, I think I'll start with the weather.

It was one of those perfect Cape Town summer evenings - warm and clear, with no wind, and just a handful of tiny white clouds speckling the sky. When the weather's like that, you have to KNOW that it's going to be a good night for cricket at Newlands.

Official attendance at the game was confirmed at 11,952. The grass embankments and lower pavilions were absolutely packed with singing, hard-hat-wearing, cheering fans - moms, dads, kids, couples, students and friends. (Also, rabbits. But let's save that story for later.)

On to the cricket. Under normal circumstances I would have said that the fans were kept entertained by the dancing girls and the Kaboom Slide and the Dunk Tank and the DJ during the quiet bits of the game. But that's just the thing. There weren't any quiet bits in this game.

With a run-rate of over 10 an over throughout their innings, the Cobras entertained from the moment they hit the pitch. The early loss of Van Zyl did nothing to stop them from punching the ball all over the park, taking a total of 11 sixes and 15 fours!

Henry Davids got a huge standing ovation from the crowd when, thanks to a bit of fumbling in the field, he added four runs to his 97, and so got his name in the big book of cricketing history as only the second cricketer in South Africa to score a century in Standard Bank Pro20 cricket. What's more, he managed this off an incredible 41 balls.

Davids ended the innings on an unbeaten 112, while Vernon Philander finished on 11. Earlier, Derek Brand, playing in his first game for the Cobras, added a very significant 68, and 21-year-old Stiaan van Zyl, who appeared to have a few very vocal buddies in the crowd, added 7 runs to the total.

Naturally, by the end of the Cobras' innings, the home crowd was expecting the game to be a whitewash, but I think we were all secretly hoping for a bit of a fight from the Warriors. And boy, we sure weren't disappointed.

Although the guests struggled a bit against some pretty good bowling upfront by Langeveldt and Kleinveldt, they'd clearly watched the Proteas playing Australia earlier in the day, and knew therefore that pretty much any game could be salvaged, provided you showed enough heart.

Despite needing a mighty 107 off 48 balls at one stage, and losing three wickets in the last two overs (two on consecutive balls by Charl Langeveldt, and one on the second-last ball of the game) the Warriors managed to slog, shunt and hammer their way to within five runs of victory.

They say a nation gets the president they deserve; well, this crowd got the cricket they deserved. They were animated, noisy and enthusiastic, applauding every half-decent shot, singing with gusto, and cheering both teams on with impressive impartiality.

I got the feeling at times that these fans couldn't actually believe they had the good fortune to be at such an outstanding game. It's going to be one seriously awesome cricketing season in Cape Town, if last night's match is anything to go by.

If you missed this one, then get your tickets early for 1 February, because I have an idea everyone who was there last night will be back for more of the same next week. Let's hope the teams can produce. And if they can't? Hey, then we'll have the dancing girls, the oh-so-adorable Hardy, the thrilling Kaboom Slide and the chilly-looking Dunk Tank to keep us entertained. ;-)